Manipur MMA fighter became the first Indian fighter to win a gold medal at the ongoing GAMMA World Championship at Amsterdam, Netherlands. Surbala Laishram is the daughter of Laishram Chandra Singh and Laishram Anita Chanu, residents of Khangabok Sarok Wangma in Manipur.
TFM Desk
Manipur MMA fighter Surbala Laishram became the first Indian fighter to win a gold medal at the GAMMA World Championship. Surbala won the gold medal in the ongoing GAMMA World Championship at Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Surbala won the medal in the 115-pound Striking MMA category by defeating Tomiris Zhussupova of Kazakhstan in the final match that lasted three rounds.
Before this, Surbala had won her semi-final match in the World Championship against her opponent from Kyrgyzstan.
Surbala was out of action for nearly two years due to an injury and this was her returning tournament.
The GAMMA World Championship saw athletes from more than 50 countries competing for the medals.
Surbala’s combat sports journey
According to the LockerRoom report, Surbala started combat sports journey more than a decade back when she tried out Taekwondo. Though she soon took a gap to concentrate on her studies, she made a triumphant return with kickboxing and started piling up national and international medals in the competition.
The report said the turning point for Surbala, however, came when she transitioned into MMA. Her first taste of the sport came at KMMAC in Manipur after which she moved to KOI Combat Academy in Bangalore under Coach Vishal Seigell and Indian MMA star Roshan Mainam. She cleared the selection trials in flying colors and got herself a place in the team.
The report further said under the guidance of Vishal and Roshan, Surbala started making huge leaps which saw her win gold at the Bengaluru Open MMA Championship. The Manipuri fighter also secured a huge win in the X1 International Women’s Fight Night 2 where she outclassed a more experienced Reshma Sakpal.
Following her good run in the Indian domestic circuit, Surbala managed to earn herself a spot in the Indian team for the 2019 IMMAF World Championship. Surbala went up against Daniela Hernandez of Mexico in a first-round showdown in Bahrain. The World Championship dreams of Surbala, unfortunately, were short-lived due to an incident that turned her career upside down, said the report
The Indian had a strong start in the fight but picked up an injury in the first round which slowed her down. Despite the injury, she pushed the fight to the distance and suffered a decision loss.
Later, it was revealed that she injured her MCL, ACL, and Meniscus which forced her to undergo surgery and ruled her out of action for more than two years.
The LockerRoom report also said a crowdfunding campaign was set up to aid the financial requirements of Surbala’s surgery while a mammoth portion of the same was footed by her team. Amidst this crisis, Surbala continued to upgrade her skills with support from Coach Vishal and after the long gap, she was cleared to compete for the GAMMA World Championship which was scheduled to happen in Amsterdam from 23 March 2022 to 27 March 2022, almost three years after the fight that injured her.
Over the course of Surbala’s recovery, Coash Vishal had been vocal on social media about how Surbala’s comeback is going to be stronger than the setback. The GAMMA World Championship was an apt platform for backing up the claims and Coach Vishal and Surbala did just that.
She started off her campaign against Ainazik Rustambak of Kyrgyzstan in the 115 LBS Striking MMA category and delivered a striking clinic through which she took home a decision victory. The win against Ainazik guaranteed a silver medal for Surbala.
On 27 March 2022, the Indian MMA fighter went up against Tomiris Zhussupova of Kazakhstan in the finals of her category. In a fight that saw both fighters having their moments, Surbala managed to outclass her Kazakh counterpart and secured a decisive victory.
The win made Surbala Laishram the first Indian MMA fighter to win a Gold Medal at the GAMMA World Championship. Earlier, India had secured silver medals at the GAMMA World Championship but this was the first time that someone brought home the Gold Medal, said the report.