Imphal: Wahengbam Sudhir Meetei from Manipur secured the state’s first-ever gold medal in Pencak Silat at the Khelo India Beach Games 2026 in Diu, achieving the feat despite financial hardships and a serious injury that had once put his sporting career at risk.
Competing alongside Premchandra Yengkhom, Sudhir helped Manipur open its medal account at the Games. For him, the result was validation after years spent negotiating financial hardship, fragile infrastructure, and a career-defining switch in discipline.
Financial constraints forced him to discontinue his Bachelor of Physical Education course after he failed to pay his fifth-semester fees, a setback that temporarily derailed his academic and sporting ambitions.
Hailing from Imphal, the 19-year-old athlete sustained a serious injury during training that forced him to give up the Tanding (combat) category. Undeterred, he shifted to the Artistic category, a decision that transformed his career. Partnering with Premchandra Yengkhom, he clinched gold in the Ganda event at the Khelo India Beach Games in Diu, creating a historic milestone for Manipur.
The eldest of three brothers, Sudhir hails from a modest family. “My father runs a small livestock business, and I assist him in selling pigs after finishing my work as a welder, for which I’m paid a wage of Rs 500 per day. The business isn’t enough to sustain the family’s needs, and so I try and contribute my part to support them,” he said.
A trainee of the Nawang Sports Academy in Imphal that has produced India’s only international gold medallists in Ganda, Bishan and Johnson, Sudhir took up Pencak Silat in 2018, inspired by senior players. He rose quickly through the ranks, winning junior national gold medals in the 45–50 kg and later the 50–55 kg Tanding categories, and secured a silver medal at the 2022 Northeast Games. In 2025, he won the Senior Male Ganda title at the National Pencak Silat Championship in Lucknow.
Sudhir began his sporting journey in kickboxing but soon reconsidered his path. “Kickboxing is not recognised at the Asian Games level,” he explained. “I wanted greater opportunities, so I switched to pencak silat for the higher level of competition and broader exposure it provided.”
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He described the experience in Diu as the toughest test of his career so far. “We normally are not used to performing on the sand. So that was a challenge, but it was a new experience and I enjoyed every bit of it. “I have always heard about the Khelo India platform, but to experience it first hand was special and returning with a gold medal makes it even more memorable,” he added.
