Manipur's Huirem Victoriya wins national track cycling gold in Ranchi

Manipur's cyclists made a strong start at the National Track Cycling Championships in Ranchi, with Huirem Victoriya winning gold in the youth girls' 500m time trial on the opening day, The Sangai Express reported.

Gold, silver and bronze

Victoriya clocked 41.377 seconds to top the field. Vinnie Martina of Andaman and Nicobar Islands took silver in 41.733 seconds and Bihar's Supriya Kumari won bronze in 42.179 seconds.

The youth boys' 500m time trial was decided by fractions of a second. Rajasthan's Abhinav Bishnoi won in 36.495 seconds, with Manipur's Mayengbam Henthoi Singh only 0.033 seconds behind in 36.528 for silver. His teammate Chanambam Poireinganba took bronze in 36.596 seconds, giving Manipur three medals from the first two finals.

Manipur has a long track record in national cycling, and the state's riders are regular contenders in sprint and time-trial events.

MU women qualify in table tennis

Elsewhere, the Manipur University (MU) women's table tennis team qualified for the All India Inter-Zonal Inter-University Table Tennis (Women) Tournament after finishing fourth at the East Zone Inter-University tournament hosted by Nagaland University.

The squad of Thoidingjam Silky, Nongmaithem Priyadashini, Hidam Liya and Manine swept through the Pool B knockout matches, beating Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekananda Technical University 3-0, Banaras Hindu University 3-1 and Shaheed Mahendra Karma Vishwavidyalaya 3-0, before a walkover put them into the final league stage.

There they lost 0-3 to Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Jadavpur University and the University of North Bengal to finish fourth, which was enough to qualify. Hidam Liya Chanu of Regional College was named the tournament's Most Promising Player.

The team is coached by NIS table tennis coach T Bony Meitei, with A Dhanapyari Devi, assistant professor at TS Paul Manipur Women's College, as manager. The East Zone event concludes on Saturday.

What's next

The cycling championships continue in Ranchi over the coming days, with more track events for Manipur's riders. Dates and venue for the All India Inter-Zonal table tennis tournament have not been announced in the reports.