Gaya: Manipur’s martial art Thang-Ta, one of the five indigenous sports contested at Khelo India Youth Games 2025 (KIYG), concluded on Wednesday at Gaya’s Bihar Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development (BIPARD). Hosts Bihar made KIYG history by bagging their first golds, while Manipur had the biggest haul with three golds.
The Government of India, led by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is determined to popularize the indigenous sports like Thang-Ta, Mallakhamb, Gatka, Kalarippayattu and Yogasana. People running these sports all across the country are looking to get a berth for their respective sports in the 2036 Olympics which India intends to host for the first time in its history.
As far as Thang-Ta is concerned, it won’t be wrong to say Huidrom Premkumar has been the lone force in the development and growth of the sport. Now 70 years old, Premkumar shed light on the Thang-Ta journey.
“The sport was banned by the British in 1891 because it was causing them trouble. Through the efforts of a local Raja, it was brought back in 1930 and thereafter my guru Rajkumar Sanahan took charge,” he said.
When Sanahan passed away in 1988, the Thang Ta baton fell to Premkumar’s lot and he has since tried to take it to all corners of India and abroad. South Korea and Iran have hosted Thang-Ta events, all thanks to him. The real boost for the sport came in 2021 when the Government of India decided to bring it to the KIYG. The sport has grown since.
“I have devoted all my life to Thang-Ta. So very happy where we are today. But we need to do a lot more. We need to encourage our local martial arts. Not to disrespect others martial arts, like the Japanese or Chinese but the priority should be on the local, native martial arts,” Premkumar said.
Hundreds of kids participated in the event. Thang-Ta has two variants in the KIYG. One is Phunaba Ama which is the traditional one. Here the participants use a sword (Cheibee in Manipuri) and a shield (Chungoi in Manipuri).
The other category is Phunaba Anishuba, invented by Premkumar himself. Here, there is no shield (Chungoi) but kicking is allowed. In all 25 states and 128 athletes across four weight categories (-52kg & -56kg for girls and -56kg & -60kg for boys) participated in the event with 8 gold medals at stake. The three-day event from May 12-14 saw pre-quarterfinals, quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals played amid much excitement.
For More on Khelo India Youth Games, click: https://youth.kheloindia.gov.in/
For Medal Tally of KIYG 2025, click: https://youth.kheloindia.gov.in/medal-tally
Manipur bagged three out of 8 available golds thanks to Thokchom Srinivas Singh, Konjengbam Pareihanba Singh and Thangjam Lembisana Devi, while Bihar and Assam bagged two each. One gold to Madhya Pradesh. Priya Prerna and Mahika Kumari made the host state proud by wining gold in Phunaba Ama (-52kg) and Phunaba Anishuba (-56kg). These were Bihar’s first golds in KIYG history. They also won three bronze through Bhumik Raj, Lucky Kumar and Suvakshi Sargam. Previously they only had one bronze to speak of.
Bihar coach Sarangthem Tiken Singh, who originally hails from Manipur and was appointed Bihar coach following a request from the local federation to the national federation, played a key role in the Thang-Ta success for the host state. “The kids are very talented here. We had a two-month camp in Rajgir. They worked very hard. I was surprised how fast they learned. I’m very happy for them, also extremely proud,” he said.
