Nagaland Sepaktakraw team was accorded grand reception at Dimapur Airport on their return from the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) 2025 held in Patna, Bihar. The team brought laurels to the state by winning one Gold, one Silver, and two Bronze medals in the KIYG Sepaktakraw.
Speaking to media persons, Head Coach, Holshe Khrieo, expressed gratitude for the warm welcome and expressed that such reception would greatly motivate the young athletes. He also expressed special thanks to the media for covering the event, pointing that this would hugely encourage the players to go for better achievements.
He later informed that the team represented Nagaland in the Sepaktakraw discipline and competed in four categories, and won medals in all categories, which included, Gold Medal in Girls’ Doubles event, Silver Medal in Boys’ Regu event, and Bronze Medals in both the Boys’ Team and Boys’ Quad events.
Highlighting a major milestone, Khrieo revealed that the boys’ team made a record by defeating Manipur team, who were unbeaten. Dwelling on the Khelo India initiative, under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, he informed that the department selects 1000 talented players from various disciplines for financial and professional training support.
While selections for this year are yet to be finalized, Khrieo expressed confidence that players from Nagaland would make the cut for the Indian Sepaktakraw team.
He also informed that on the ongoing KIYG, Nagaland’s Sepaktakraw team remains the only team from the state to have won medals so far.
When asked on the future of Sepaktakraw in the state, he informed that players from Nagaland had represented the country in the Asian Games four consecutive times, and also other tournaments internationally.
Meanwhile, when asked whether the state government had constructed Indoor Stadium for the Sepaktraw players, given the players from the state had many a times represented the country in the international level and also brought laurels on several occasions, he said they had submitted proposal to the state government for the construction of an indoor stadium dedicated to Sepaktakraw, and urged that it be taken up at the earliest.
Assistant Head Coach Puleno Neikha, also shared her experiences, admitting that while it was challenging to manage younger players, she expressed joy that their performance had made the journey worthwhile. She emphasized that the team participated in four categories and won medals in all, calling it a remarkable success.