Women in Sports
Ningol Chakouba: Celebrating the Manipuri Ningols Who Have Won Pride for India
Ningol Chakouba 2026 · 12 November
Thirty-seven years of Olympic, World, Asian and Commonwealth medals, from Kunjarani Devi’s first world silver in 1989 to the Asian Games hockey gold in 2026.
Today, married daughters across Manipur return to their parents’ homes for a feast. Manipur’s sporting daughters have been coming home in their own way for 37 years, with medals from the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games. This is their story.
Documented medals only. Figures count the medals listed in this article.
What is Ningol Chakouba?
Ningol means a married woman and Chakouba means an invitation to a feast. Ningol Chakouba is a Meitei festival, also called Hiyangei Nini Paanba, held on the second lunar day of the Hiyangei month in the Meitei calendar, which usually falls in October or November. This year it falls on Wednesday 11 November.
On the day, a married woman returns to her mapam, her parents’ house, with her children. The brother of the family usually sends the invitation about a week in advance. She arrives in her finest traditional clothes with fruits and sweets, the family cooks a feast, and after the meal her parents and brothers give her gifts while she blesses them and prays for their long life and happiness. Fish curry, eromba, fermented bamboo shoot curry and uti are among the dishes on the table.
Tradition traces the festival to the reign of King Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, when Queen Laisana invited her brother to the palace every year, a custom called Piba Chakouba. Under King Chandrakirti Singh (1831 to 1886) the custom shifted to inviting sisters, because visiting every sister’s home in a single day was hard. Today the day is a state holiday in Manipur and is observed by Manipuris in other states and abroad.
The invitation
A brother invites his sister about a week before the day.
The homecoming
Married daughters arrive at the mapam with their children, fruits and sweets.
The feast
The family serves fish curry, eromba, uti and other traditional dishes.
Gifts and blessings
Parents and brothers give gifts. The ningols bless the family in return.
That is the spirit in which this article is written. Manipur has sent its daughters out into Indian sport for more than three decades, and they have come home with medals. Here is that record.
The pioneers: 1989 to 2006
The story starts with Kunjarani Devi. She won her first World Championships silver in Manchester in 1989 at 44kg, and added silvers at the world championships in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997. She also took bronze at the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990 and in Hiroshima in 1994. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester she won gold in the 48kg total, the snatch and the clean and jerk, and she defended the title in Melbourne in 2006.
| Year | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1989–1997 | World Championships | 7 silver medals |
| 1990 | Asian Games, Beijing | Bronze |
| 1994 | Asian Games, Hiroshima | Bronze |
| 2002 | Commonwealth Games, Manchester | Gold |
| 2006 | Commonwealth Games, Melbourne | Gold |
Surajlata Devi Waikhom, a hockey player from Manipur, won Asian Games silver in Bangkok in 1998 and Asia Cup silver in 1999. Her team won the Commonwealth Games gold in Manchester in 2002 and the Asia Cup in New Delhi in 2004. In Melbourne in 2006, Yumnam Renubala Chanu won Commonwealth Games weightlifting gold and Laishram Monika Devi won silver.
Mary Kom and Sarita Devi: the boxing queens
Mary Kom won World Championships silver in Scranton in 2001, then world titles in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010. Sarita Devi won world gold in New Delhi in 2006. Mary Kom took Asian Games bronze in Guangzhou in 2010 and Olympic bronze in London in 2012. In 2014 she won Asian Games gold in Incheon. In 2018 she won her sixth world title in New Delhi, beating Hanna Okhota of Ukraine in the final, and Commonwealth Games gold in Gold Coast.
| Year | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | World Championships | Silver |
| 2002 | World Championships | Gold, first title |
| 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 | World Championships | Gold, four titles |
| 2010 | Asian Games, Guangzhou | Bronze |
| 2012 | London Olympics | Bronze |
| 2014 | Asian Games, Incheon | Gold |
| 2018 | World Championships, New Delhi | Gold, sixth title |
| 2018 | Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast | Gold |
37 years, medal by medal
Kunjarani Devi wins the first of seven world silvers
Kunjarani Devi, Asian Games bronze, Beijing
Surajlata Devi and the women’s hockey team win Asian Games silver
Mary Kom’s first world title. Kunjarani Devi and the hockey team win Commonwealth Games gold
Sarita Devi becomes world champion. Kunjarani Devi defends her Commonwealth Games gold
Mary Kom wins Olympic bronze in London
Mary Kom wins Asian Games gold. Sanjita Chanu wins Commonwealth Games gold. Four Manipuri women medal in Glasgow
Mirabai Chanu is world champion in Anaheim
Mary Kom’s sixth world title. Mirabai, Sanjita and Mary Kom win Commonwealth Games gold. Tababi Devi wins Youth Olympic silver
Mirabai Chanu wins Olympic silver in Tokyo
Mirabai Chanu wins Commonwealth Games gold. Sushila Devi and Bindyarani Devi win silver
Hockey and sepak takraw bronze, Roshibina Devi wushu silver at the Asian Games
Asian Games hockey gold. SAFF Women’s Championship title. Mirabai Chanu’s third straight Commonwealth Games gold
Mirabai Chanu: the constant
Mirabai Chanu has been on the podium for Manipur and India for more than a decade. She won Commonwealth Games silver in Glasgow in 2014 and World Championships gold in Anaheim in 2017. She won Commonwealth Games gold in Gold Coast in 2018 and took silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. In 2022 she won Commonwealth Games gold and a silver at the World Championships in Bogota.
In July 2026 in Glasgow she won her third straight Commonwealth Games gold at 48kg, lifting 190kg and setting Commonwealth and Games records in the snatch. The same year she won silver in the 49kg at the Asian Games.
| Year | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Commonwealth Games, Glasgow | Silver |
| 2017 | World Championships, Anaheim | Gold |
| 2018 | Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast | Gold |
| 2021 | Tokyo Olympics | Silver |
| 2022 | Commonwealth Games, Birmingham | Gold |
| 2022 | World Championships, Bogota | Silver |
| 2026 | Commonwealth Games, Glasgow | Gold |
| 2026 | Asian Games | Silver |
Beyond boxing and weightlifting
The medals did not stop at two sports. Judo, wushu, hockey, football and sepak takraw have all had Manipuri women on the podium.
Sanjita Chanu won Commonwealth Games weightlifting gold in Glasgow in 2014 and again in Gold Coast in 2018 at 53kg, with a total of 192kg. Sushila Devi Likmabam won judo silver at 48kg at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and 2022. Thangjam Tababi Devi won judo silver at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in the 44kg final, India’s first Olympic-level judo medal. Ngangbam Soniya Chanu won weightlifting silver at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010, and Kalpana Thoudam won judo bronze at 52kg in Glasgow in 2014.
In 2021, Naorem Babyrojisana Chanu (51kg) and Thokchom Sanamacha Chanu (75kg) won gold at the Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships in Kielce.
2026: gold in hockey, gold in football
The year’s biggest moment came in the women’s hockey final at the Asian Games, where India won gold, their first title since 1982. Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam and Bichu Devi Kharibam were both in the team, as they were when India won bronze in Hangzhou in 2023. Naorem Roshibina Devi added a silver in the 60kg sanda wushu, as she did in 2023.
In June, India beat Bangladesh 3-1 in the SAFF Women’s Championship final in Margao, Goa. Nine Manipuri players were in the winning squad: Dangmei Grace, Panthoi Chanu, Nirmala Devi, Ranjana Chanu, Yumnam Sarita, Shilky Devi, Priyangka Devi, Lynda Kom and Thoibisana Devi. At the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Bindyarani Devi Sorokhaibam won bronze in the 58kg weightlifting. In sepak takraw, Maipak Devi Ayekpam and Chaoba Devi Oinam were part of the women’s team that won bronze at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
| Event | Athletes | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Asian Games, women’s hockey | Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Bichu Devi Kharibam | Gold |
| Asian Games, weightlifting 49kg | Mirabai Chanu | Silver |
| Asian Games, wushu 60kg | Naorem Roshibina Devi | Silver |
| Commonwealth Games, weightlifting 48kg | Mirabai Chanu | Gold |
| Commonwealth Games, weightlifting 58kg | Bindyarani Devi Sorokhaibam | Bronze |
| SAFF Women’s Championship, football | Nine Manipuri players | Gold |
The medal count
Counted per athlete. Medals in team events count once for each Manipuri player in the squad listed in this article.
Weightlifting
Kunjarani Devi, Mirabai Chanu, Sanjita Chanu, Bindyarani Devi, Soniya Chanu
Boxing
Mary Kom, Sarita Devi, Babyrojisana Chanu, Sanamacha Chanu
Judo
Sushila Devi, Tababi Devi, Kalpana Thoudam
Wushu
Naorem Roshibina Devi
Hockey
Surajlata Devi, Sushila Chanu, Bichu Devi
Football
Nine Manipuri players, SAFF Women’s Championship 2026
Sepak takraw
Maipak Devi Ayekpam, Chaoba Devi Oinam
This is not the full list
Manipur has a long roll of women who have represented India and brought laurels, in these sports and many others, and many of their stories remain to be told. PurePlay India will keep telling them.
Coming home
On Ningol Chakouba, married daughters come home to a family table. Manipur’s sporting daughters have come home for 37 years with medals from every major Games, and the state should say so loudly. Happy Ningol Chakouba to every Manipuri ningol, and to every daughter of Manipur who has worn the India colours.
Photos: Olympics.com. Medal records compiled by the PurePlay India Sports Desk from Olympics.com, The Bridge, The Sangai Express, NENow, EastMojo, the Morung Express and other reports.
