ITANAGAR: The state’s top karatekass, Mesom Singhi and Johny Mangkhiya, have qualified for the 19th Asian Games scheduled to be held in China later this year.
Both of them secured the first position in their respective events in the trial selection conducted by the Sports Authority of India at Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Singhi, who will turn 25 in November this year, will compete in the women’s kata event.
She is the daughter of Langku Singhi and Yajik Singhi, of Attangrang village in East Kameng district.
On the other hand, Mangkhiya will compete in kumite.
She is the daughter of Nira Mangkhiya and Majing Mangkhiya, of Mangkhya village in East Kameng district.
On Monday, Abab Sangdo qualified for the Games. He will compete in the men’s kata event.
So far, five athletes from Arunachal have qualified for the Games. The other qualifiers are skater Nani Sonam and Radha Bangsia (taekwondo).
Singhi has at least 26 national, international and regional medals to her credit, most of which are gold, barring on four occasions, when she won silver and bronze medals.
Her latest win was at the All India Inter-SAI Karate Tournament, 2023, where she clinched the individual kata gold in the senior category.
Singhi’s few notable achievements are gold medal at the 9th Commonwealth Karate Championship, 2018, Durban, South Africa in the senior female team kata, and a bronze medal in 10th Commonwealth Karate Championship, 2022, Birmingham, England, in individual kata.
She had also participated in the WKF Karate-1 Series A, 2022, in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the 15th AKF Senior Championship, 2018, held in Amman, Jordan.
Singhi had won four gold medals at the KAI National All India Karate Championship from 2018 to 2021, consecutively.
Besides these, she also won gold medals in the All India Inter-University Karate Championship, 2022 (Haryana), the Khelo India University Games, 2021-22 (Bengaluru), the All India Inter-University Karate Championship, 2020 (Chennai), and the All India Inter-University Karate Championship, 2023, Chhatisgarh.
She also won several gold medals in regional level events.
Mangkhiya also has many a national and international medal in her kitty. Her latest achievement was a gold medal win at the All India Karate National Championship.
She had won one bronze medal each in the senior individual kumite and team kumite in the 9th Commonwealth Karate Championship in South Africa in 2018; one gold and one silver medal in the Senior South Asian Karate Championship in 2019; and one gold in the 8th Commonwealth Karate Championships in 2015.
She has won at least three gold medals in national karate championships and had participated in the World Karate Championship in Madrid [Spain] in 2018, and the WKF World Championships in Austria in 2016.
Arunachal Karate Do Association president Likha Tara, on behalf of the association, has congratulated all the karatekas who have qualified for the Games.