MANIPURI BOY MAKES NORTHEAST PROUD BY BREAKING NATIONAL MOUNTAINEERING RECORD

Fifteen-year-old sports climber Maibam Chingkheinganba has broken a new national record of scaling a 15-metre-high wall in 7.10 seconds during the 1st Indian Mountaineering Foundation-All India Sports Climbing (Speed) Competition held at JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur, from May 24-27.

Chingkheinganba broke an earlier record of 7.59 seconds, created by Bharat Pereira of Bangalore, during National Sports Climbing competition held in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, last year.

The world record in speed climbing is held by Danylo Boldyrev of Russia who climbed a 15-metre-high wall in 5.60 seconds.

In an interview Chingkheinganba said that he is very happy with his record and he will also try to improve his time with each and every performance.

“I have come here to seek sponsorship for the Asia Cup and will be leaving for New Delhi on Thursday as I have to report to the Indian Mountaineering Foundation for further coaching, particularly for the Asian Games. I have spoken to my mentors from the Manipur Mountaineering and Trekking Association and the Manipur Sports Climbing Association and sought their help. They assured me that they would help me meet the expenses for the competition,” he added.

Chingkheinganba, along with eight other competitors from India, will participate in the Asia Cup which will be held in Bangkok from June 14-18. “This is an invitation cup, so we will be forking out our own expenses,” he added.

The male climbers selected for the Asia Cup are Adarsh Singh, Maibam Chingkeinganba, Bharat Pareira, Pempa Bhutia, while the female climbers include Shivpreet, Shivani, Shreya and Arundhati.