Imphal, July 9: Manipur climber Maibam Chingkheinganba clinched a gold in speed climbing to get the Tricolour unfurled at the IFSC Asian Youth Sports Climbing Championship in Singapore yesterday.

The lone climber from the state, Chingkheinganba, 15, bagged the gold medal, scaling the 15-metre high-speed wall in 8.26 seconds in the Youth B category of speed climbing. The final push saw Chingkheinganba beating climbers from Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea and others for the gold medal.

Chingkheinganba is the lone Indian sport climber who has managed to clinch a gold medal in the championship that began on Wednesday.

He had represented the country twice earlier in the Asian Youth Sports Climbing Championship. In the championship held at Malaysia in 2015, Chingkheinganba had bagged a gold and a sliver.

The Manipur Sports Climbing Association has congratulated the young climber and described him as "a treasure".

"Chingkheinganba's performance will provide the much-needed boost to other young climbers of the state. It has also heightened the association's belief that he would win medals for the country in the other events such as the Asian Games in Jakarta next year and the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 where sports climbing will be included for the first time," a statement, issued from the association, said.

Chingkheinganba bagged his first gold medal when he was only nine in a state-level championship.