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Our Correspondent
Imphal, Dec. 21 (EMN): Manipur’s first ever state-level Mountain Terrain Bike (MTB) Championship was held under the banner ‘MTB Manipur: Dance of Sangai’ at Awaching, a picturesque Nongmaiching hill range in the outskirts of Imphal on Sunday.
The day-long championship was organised in three categories –XCO (cross country Olympic) U15, XCO Open and Down Hill under the aegis of Manipur Adventure and Mountain Biking Association (MAAMBA).
Director Phulen Meitei of Youth Affair and Sports and CFI Executive Elangbam Bhubaneshwor attended the closing function as chief guest and guest of honour respectively.
MAAMBA’s President Dr. Ng Arunkumar Singh, Vice President Nongthombam Kamalkanta and Joint Secretary Denis Phuritsabam were the event director, event joint director and race director of the day-long event, which was participated by 30 riders.
Speaking to Eastern Mirror, Singh said, “The state has many talented cyclists and organising such championships will help in producing competitive cyclists and we hope our state boys and girls will bring medals from international competitions soon.”
“So MAAMBA will continue its endeavour to hunt, groom and produce more international level cyclists so that our dream of an Olympic medal in LA 2028 is fulfilled,” he added.
In the competition, national champion in XCO Elite Adonis Tangpu, Lanchenba Soibam and Th Tennyson won gold medals in XCO Open, XCO U15 and Down Hill Open respectively.
Ronel Khundrakpam, RK Jehan and Goaller M won silver medal in XCO Open, XCO U15 and Down Hill Open respectively while Vimchandra Nongthombam,David Keisham and Yoimaren Thokchom won bronze in XCO Open, XCO U15 and DH Open respectively.
Last month, Manipur finished as the runner-up team in the 18th national MTB Championship in Pune.
It may be mentioned that the first Northeast MTB champ 2020 was held in December 2020 wherein bikers contested in four categories– Cross Country (XC) male and female, Down Hill Full Suspension (DHFS) and Down Hill Hard Trail (DHHT).