Manipur: Hero Tri-Nation International Football Tournament; Its Significance in emerging as Sports Hub of Country
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Manipur: Hero Tri-Nation International Football Tournament; Its Significance in Emerging as Sports Hub of Country
The eastern state is emerging as the sports hub of India - while Odisha is known for its Hockey talents, Manipuri has football in its blood. The two states are simultaneously called the sports capital of India. Not just in Football, Manipur has given India some incredible Sports stars who have done the nation proud with their commendable performances.
Some of the most inspirational sportspersons in the country, from Mary Kom to Mira Bhai have been a symbol of consistency ever since making their debut. Sarita Laishram went on to add more laurels to the nation. Devendro Singh is also one of the brightest boxing talents in the country amongst many others to mention a few.
Coming back to Football which is a sport that is close to the hearts and souls of the people of Manipur. Adding sparks to its craze on March 28, 2023, Manipur witnessed abundant celebrations at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in the capital city of Manipur- when the Indian football team won Tri-Nation International Football Tournament 2023 after a 2-0 victory against the Kyrgyz Republic at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal, Manipur as the host of the International Football Tournament for the first time.
Six Players from Manipur Thounaojam Bipin, Thounaojam Jeakson, Wangjam Suresh, Naorem Mahesh, Naorem Roshan, and Konsham Chinglensana participated in the first-ever Tri-Nation Football Tournament in the state.
With the hosting of the first-ever Tri-nation Football Tournament in the state come along with The All India Football Federation (AIFF) to signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Manipur to create world-class footballing facilities in the state with CM N. Biren Singh.
Speaking on the occasion, AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey said: "Manipur deserves a bigger initiative. The chief minister being a former footballer is of huge help. He has a great commitment to taking football in this state ahead."
“We are collaborating with the Manipur government and will provide the best support possible from our side. I’m hopeful that the All-India Football Federation and the Manipur government will make a big difference to Indian football with this project,” said the president of AIFF.
The final match witnessed a capacity crowd of 30,000 applauding the Indian team for the big win, the Blue Tigers played some inspiring football against the higher-ranked Kyrgyz Republic to snatch a 2-0 victory and bag the Tri-National International Tournament Trophy with an all-win record under their belt and without divulging a goal.
Croatian coach Igor Stimac and his team made the best out of it by winning both matches in the competition. They began their crusade with a 1-0 win over Myanmar and a rather assertive scoreline against the Kyrgyz Republic on Tuesday put them in the enviable position of finishing the tournament with six points from two encounters.
Indian coach Igor Stimac, on the eve of the match, spoke about going for all-out attacks even though a draw would have been enough to keep the trophy home. He certainly kept his word as India launched a series of incursions on the opposition goal whenever they had the opportunity. One such attack in the 84th minute saw the Kyrgyz Republic defense crumble under pressure as Naorem Mahesh Singh was brought down inside the penalty box by Davydov Nikolai.
It wasn’t only the second goal for India, but also the 85th international strike in his career for the Indian captain Sunil Chhetri. As the legend of Indian football stepped up to take the kick and then strike it to the corner of the net, the joy of the spectators knew no bounds.
Overall, India deserved to win, their fifth straight win on home turf.
The final match was played by India XI: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Sandesh Jhingan, Akash Mishra (Mehtab Singh 79′) Anwar Ali (Naorem Roshan Singh 79′), Pritam Kotal, Anirudh Thapa (Rohit Kumar 67′), Suresh Singh Wangjam, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam (Sahal Abdul Samad 67′), Brandon Fernandes (Naorem Mahesh Singh 57′), Lallianzuala Chhangte, Sunil Chhetri (C).
It's not just football People in Manipur love playing a wide variety of sports like boxing, badminton, hockey, weightlifting, and many others.
Today, if someone talks about football in India, Manipur is mentioned to produce remarkable football stars of the country.
In the meantime, the state government has taken up several sports infrastructure projects in various places in Manipur.
CM of the state N. Biren Singh is committed to upgrading the sports complex to world-class. He has already announced the upgradation of Khuman Lampak Stadium to 75000 capacity on the first day of the tri-nation football tournament. Upgradation of the existing Stadium is good news for us however more important is to maintain all the sports complexes of the state which are in deplorable condition.
Along with the initiative of world-class football facilities to be provided for the state by AIFF, our sports players should also be upheld with the best facilities in subsidies rate without any nepotism. In many instances, we have witnessed that most deserving sports players from less privileged backgrounds are not given chances or make it too difficult for them to avail all the benefits provided by the government. This sort of reality hampers more sports stars from the state from bringing laurels.
Our state needs to host more international and national tournaments on regular basis for more infrastructure development. The overloaded turnouts and craze for sports by the people of Manipur in the recent tri-nation football tournament indeed mark Manipur emerging rapidly as the sports hub of India.
N.B: The author is the editor of HY News
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