The SAI RC team poses for a photograph at Khuman Lampak Indoor Hall in Imphal on Monday. A Telegraph picture

Imphal, Sept. 1: Sports Authority of India Regional Centre (SAI RC) annexed the overall team title bagging 44 medals in the 13th state-level wushu championship held at Khuman Lampak indoor hall here.

SAI RC had been leading since the second day of the championship and finished off with 28 gold, 14 silver and two bronze for the title, while Central Wushu Institute bagged the runners-up title with 13 gold, 12 silver and seven bronze medals.

Claiming the third place were Bishnupur district with eight gold, six silver and six bronze medals.

Thoubal came fourth with seven gold, seven silver and six bronze medals. Yairipok Wushu Institute clinched the fifth position with seven gold, six silver and five bronze medals. Imphal East was in sixth position with four gold, eight silver, six bronze, while Imphal West was placed seventh with three gold and four bronze and Manipur Police Sports Club ended in the last spot with one gold, six silver and two bronze medals.

Former Lok Sabha MP Th. Chaoba Singh, who attended the prize distribution ceremony, lauded all the prizewinners and called upon them to gear up for gold medal performance in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Th. Chaoba Singh said, “We should be proud of our wushu players, as they have shown their mettle in the last National Games at Guwahati. They contributed immensely to the Manipur coffers to emerge the top team among the competing Indian states”.

He added that though in Beijing, the wushu event was not included he was optimistic that it would surely be included in the London edition.

“To enhance our performance further, we need to organise many such championships,” he said.

SAI Northeast Regional Centre director L. Tiken Singh also attended the function and later distributed prizes to the winners.