People ask what you would do after learning martial art. It is a way of life. It has life time value. Learning martial art enhances discipline, moral character in day-to-day life, artists should preserve it.

Parents are happy to come at my residence as their kids learn punctuality and culture. In martial art one has to know self, perfect self. We have to know the potential of the individual self. It is a much to acquire total self-confidence. If I beat or defend, I have to have confidence which is applicable in all life.

In book you can copy but in martial art if you copy you might get hurt so there is no unfair means when you are on the bout. These are very interesting parts”, says a soft spoken Chingtham Ranjeet Khuman who have shown his performance in 26 countries bringing recognition for an excellent Manipur.

“Martial arts have played a big role in administration, defence, safeguarding of the independent Manipur Kingdom. It was a great means in Manipur Kingdom.

I was in HULA for 25 years. During my training days also, teachers do not take fees so I follow the trend. There is no state government support personally it is my passion that I trained the interested candidates at my residence.

There is no livelihood out of this profession. I also teach aboard. In Taiwan I was invited to teach martial art. Also, some Bangladesh students want to learn martial art and they came until Kolkata and I taught them in Kolkata. Japanese and Poland citizen came at my residence and learnt the art form and left for their country”, says Chingtham Ranjeet Khuman.

“Martial art is one form of Art which goes deep and deep as we learn. Thang ta is helpful in day-to-day life. It is helpful in the utility of time. Perfect timing habit. Cultivating time efficiency. People regard us because of punctuality when I toured outside”, he continued.

Interestingly Ranjeet Chingtham also assisted in choreographing martial art performance in one of the song sequences for Bollywood movie "Omkara". Eighteen Thang – Ta and Pung artists performed for that song which was rated number one in the chartbusters of various music channel for quite a long time.

He has performed traditional Manipuri Martial art in countries like Spain, Indonesia, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, South Korea, Bangkok, Singapore, Taiwan, South Africa, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, London, Germany, USA, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, China, Italy, Sweden.

Besides conducting workshop and lecture cum demonstration as workshop director of thang ta at Spain, Taiwan, Peru and across the nation mostly in Kolkata and Manipur also in Punjab Bhopal UP, Mumbai, Kerala.

In his early stage of learning the Manipuri Martial art he received national scholarships from the Ministry of culture, Government of India. Now Manipuri Martial Art – Thang Ta is included in the Khelo India sports and several national tournaments have taken place so far.

Fencer Chingakham Jetlee Singh, who made his way from Manipur to the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune at the age of 15, is all set to showcase his skills once again at the Khelo India University Games (KIUG) 2022 slated to take place, here.

Jetlee participated in the games for the first time in Bengaluru last year and won two gold medals (individual and team).

At the age of 21, Jetlee is currently representing Guru Nanak Dev University. As a first-year student, Jetlee is practicing at ASI Pune, which is also a SAI National Centre of Excellence, these days and is confident about his good performance in the upcoming KIUG 2022, which is set to take place in Uttar Pradesh for the first time.

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"I am confident about performing well in KIUG 2022. I am working hard for it," said Jetlee in a media release.

Jetlee's father runs a dhaba in the Imphal East district of Manipur. He was named as a TOPS Development Athlete in 2022.

Among his three siblings, Jetlee, the youngest, said, "My father runs a fast food dhaba in Imphal East district. My mother assists him in his work. My brother is searching for a job after completing his studies, and my sister is already married."

Jetlee came to SAI ASI Pune in 2016 and has been staying there since.

"In 2014, I won a medal in a national event. A trial was organized at SAI ASI Pune the following year, in which I performed well and got selected. Since 2016, I have been practicing in Pune," the fencer said about his journey to Pune.

Jetlee has also competed at the international level for India. Earlier this year, he participated in the Grand Prix held in Doha, and before that, he competed in the 2022 Commonwealth Championship. He won the team gold in the championship and improved his ranking with a good performance at the Grand Prix.

Asked about how he got into fencing, Jetlee said, "There is a boy named Eklavya in my village who is very good at this sport. He has won many medals. Seeing him, many children, including me, got inspired to take up this sport. When I tried it for the first time, I liked it."

Jetlee believes that the Khelo India University Games provides an excellent platform because athletes receive world-class facilities.

"It is a good competition. Players get a good platform here. Good players participate, and the facilities are also very good. Bangalore had excellent arrangements. I am excited for my second Khelo India University Games," he said.

The talented athlete aims to win a medal for the country in the Olympics.

"My dream is to win a gold medal for the country in the Olympics. I have targeted the 2028 Olympics for myself, and I am practicing accordingly. I will give my all to win a medal for the country," said Jetlee.

The third edition of the Khelo India University Games will be held from May 25 to June 3 in four cities of Uttar Pradesh -- Lucknow, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Gorakhpur, Varanasi as well as in Delhi.

KIUG-2022 is set to witness the participation of over 4,000 athletes from various institutions across the country. Under the Under-27 category, all athletes will compete for medals in 21 different sports disciplines.

Former South African all-rounder Lance Klusener, globally recognised for his power batting, is all set to enter into a contract with Tripura Cricket Association for 100 days, Vice President of Tripura Cricket Association (TCA) Timir Chanda said on Thursday.

According to Chanda, Klusener has agreed to share his ideas with the younger teams apart from helping the state Ranji Trophy team hone their cricketing skills.

“We all know about Lance Kulsener and his international cricketer. Later, in his life, he coached several teams and now he has expressed his interest to work with Tripura Cricket Association,” said Chanda.

He said the TCA had issued an advertisement on its official website inviting applications for coaches having national and international sporting backgrounds.

“Among the several responses it generated, Lance Klusener was one. The modalities are being fixed for the contract. If things play out in the right direction, he will join TCA for 100 days. We are very grateful to him that he has expressed his willingness to share his ideas with the younger state teams as well,” Chanda added.

The cricketer-turned-sports administrator has also said that for the first time cricket is on the threshold of conducting 500 domestic matches within the state.

“For the first time, the Tripura Cricket Association has set a target of 500 domestic matches within the state. Already 450 matches have been organized, so we can predict that over 500 matches would be organised at the end of this year. Apart from that, we are conducting open selection trials across the state for batsman, bowlers and all-rounders to get raw talent,” Chanda added.

Guwahati: Around 1,500 boys and girls, including 100 from the home state are expected to take part in the All India U-19 Junior Ranking badminton championship that starts at the DTRP Indoor Stadium in the city from Wednesday.

Assam Badminton Association (ABA) secretary Omar Rashid informed that the competition will be held in singles, doubles and mixed doubles categories.

Haryana boys Manraj Singh and Gagan are the top seeds for the boys’ singles event, while local boy Tonmoy Bikash Boruah is the No.12 seed. Among the girls, Haryana’s Unnati Hooda and Anmol Kharb are the top-seeded players in singles.

Karnataka’s Nicholas Nathan Raj and Tushar Suveer are the No.1 seeds in boys’ doubles, while the Tamil Nadu pair of Shreya Balaji and Srinidhi N top the seeds in the girls’ doubles category. In mixed doubles, the Tamil Nadu pair of Arulmurugan R and Srinidhi N is the top-seeded pair.

The competition is crucial for the participating players as probables for the national camp for the forthcoming Asian Junior Badminton Championship will be selected from the tournament.

The Asian Junior Badminton Championship is scheduled to be held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia from July 7-16.

According to the Badminton Association of India (BAI), the top-8 players from both boys’ and girls’ singles events will be invited for the selection trials to be conducted in the national capital from June 4-7.

The top-4 pairs from each of the pair events, namely boys’ doubles, girls’ doubles and mixed doubles in the competition will also get a chance to take part in the selection trials in New Delhi.

The competition will start with the qualifying round matches across all categories for the first four days (May 10 – 13), before the main draw contests begin on May 14. The quarter-finals and semi-finals are scheduled for May 16 while the finals of all categories will be played on May 17.

The matches will begin at 9 am each day while the timings for the final will be decided once the tournament progresses.

Over the years, most age-group competitions have been marred by controversies, the more prominent being the menace of age fudging. Armed with fake documents and thick skin, there have been numerous cases of players competing in younger age groups to get ahead by unfair means and do injustice to deserving candidates.

In 2022, multiple cases of age fraud emerged during the All India Sub-Junior Under-13 ranking tournaments in Hyderabad, and later in Mohali, leading to many aggrieved parents protesting against the participation of over-aged players, and demanding a probe into the suspected players’ claims.

The parents have been dashing off letters to the Badminton Association of India (BAI), a few of which have also been shared with the media.

Most recently in February 2023, the BAI disqualified as many as eight shuttlers from participating in the All India Sub Junior Ranking badminton tournament in Jaipur, after the Badminton Parents group, called Swachh Badminton India (SBI) complained against the eight players, who were found manipulating their age qualification.

The illustrious Indian Men’s Hockey midfielder, Hardik Singh, has once again demonstrated the fruits of relentless diligence, by earning the highly coveted Player of the Year award at the 5th Hockey India Annual Awards 2022.

Speaking on the popular podcast ‘Hockey Te Charcha’, initiated by Hockey India, the Olympic bronze medalist candidly discussed his journey through highs and lows, including his forced withdrawal from the 2023 FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup in Bhubaneswar-Rourkela due to an unfortunate injury. Despite this setback, Singh affirmed his unwavering dedication to the sport.

“I had never anticipated winning this award, but I am certain that my persistent hard work over the past few years has yielded results,” expressed Singh.

The 24-year-old athlete feels deeply inspired by the accolade, a token of recognition from his countrymen for his impressive performance on the field.

In March 2023, Singh was honoured with the prestigious Hockey India Balbir Singh Sr. Award for Player of the Year 2022 at the 5th Hockey India Annual Awards ceremony in New Delhi.

Singh confessed that his aspiration to win the award was kindled back in 2019 when he witnessed Manpreet Singh, the skipper who led India to a bronze medal finish at the Tokyo Olympics, receive the award. From that point forward, he committed himself to daily improvements, culminating in his significant roles in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the 2023 Hockey World Cup.

According to Singh, such accolades serve as potent motivation for players, encouraging them to constantly strive for better performance.

He expressed gratitude towards Hockey India and the award’s jury and emphasized the positive impact of awards in fostering a competitive spirit among both senior and junior players.

Receiving the award in the presence of Hockey legends like Dhanraj Pillay, Gurbux Singh, and Harcharan Singh added a special meaning to his accomplishment, pushing him further to continue developing as a player.

Discussing his personal evolution, Singh mentioned his commitment to continuous improvement and the importance of stepping out of his comfort zone, a lesson learned from a period of stagnation in 2017-18.

The Punjab-born player reflected on the disappointment of being side-lined due to an injury during the 2023 Hockey World Cup. Despite the setback, he maintained a positive attitude and cheered for his team, emphasizing the collective spirit of the sport.

Singh also shared his excitement to work under the new Indian Men’s Hockey Team Chief Coach Craig Fulton at the ongoing National Coaching Camp at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Bengaluru. He praised Fulton’s successful track record with the Irish and Belgian teams and his tactical coaching style, expressing optimism for the team’s future under his guidance.

Source: Khalsa Vox