Shillong, Sep 19: The North East Zone Inter-State Badminton Championship 2026 came to a close at the JN Indoor Stadium here today with Assam walking away with the lion’s share of honours.
Assam won five of the individual championship finals, with Mizoram and Manipur taking two each and Arunachal Pradesh one.
On Thursday Assam had won all of the team championship titles on Thursday in men’s, women’s, U-19 boys’ and U-19 girls’.
The four-day tournament, which brought together more than 270 shuttlers and officials from the eight regional states, was a challenge of logistics that the MSBA with the support of the government pulled off successfully.
The day started with the U-19 girls’ singles final where Gargi Saikia breezed past her Assam teammate Noimikha Saikhia 15-3, 15-9. Similarly, the boys’ singles final was also between two Assam shuttlers and here Prangan Choudhury defeated Arnav Protim Borgohain 15-9, 15-10.
The other U-19 finals were won by shuttlers from other states. The boys’ doubles was won by Manku Taku and Gyurmey Tseten in Arunachal Pradesh’s lone gold medal performance. They defeated Mizoram’s Malsawmhlua and Vanlalhruaia Sailo in a lively match that ended 15-7, 10-15, 16-14. The passionate cheers of both sides’ teammates in the gallery filled the indoor stadium and provided a fantastic atmosphere.
The girls’ doubles was also fiercely contested and here Mizoram’s Lalrinhlui Hmar and Zoramthari Renthlei prevailed 15-13, 13-15, 15-8 over Assam’s Avikaa Borgohain and Bhavishya Changmai.
The mixed doubles final saw Vanlalpekhlua and Lalrinhlui Hmar take victory in straight games 16-14, 15-11 against Manipur’s Truman Kalo and Konsam Gunjan.
In the senior events, M Hemam and P Konjengbam of Manipur were mixed doubles winners over Assam’s Swarnaraj Bora and Bhavishya Changmai 15-10, 12-15, 15-8.
The women’s singles gold was bagged by Avikaa Borgohain of Assam 15-11, 9-15, 15-12 over Lalrinkimi of Mizoram. The men’s singles involved two shuttlers from Assam, with Himanish Das beating Orijit Chaliha from a game down 15-17, 15-9, 15-12.
That left the women’s and men’s doubles. Manipur were victorious in the former as the pair of M Kshetrimayum and SM Devi defeated Bhavishya Changmai and Gargi Saikia 15-10, 15-8.
The last contest was the men’s doubles and, fittingly, it was a highly competitive three-game match. T Boruah and N Choudhury of Assam took the first game 15-11 only for Arunachal’s Choidrup Lobsang and Samuel Tamang to win the second by the same scoreline. The deciding third game saw the Assam duo exert total control and they won it 15-7.
The prize distribution ceremony followed, with all the podium finishers receiving their medals, including shuttlers from Meghalaya. The host team ended with four bronze medals that were secured yesterday. They are Elsarica Umdor (women’s singles), Netania T Tariang (girls’ singles), Netania and Gavin Kharbuki (U-19 mixed doubles) and Gitchiak Bregim A Sangma and Sonnal Joshi (senior mixed doubles).
The event was organised by the Meghalaya State Badminton Association (MSBA) with support of the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs under the aegis of the Badminton Association of India.
Meghalaya’s Director General of Police, Idashisha Nongrang, who attended as guest, congratulated all medallists and commiserated with those who missed out. “Badminton is the domain of the youth as it requires so much speed and stamina. It is very encouraging to see so many talented players coming out of the North East,” she added.
