Diu, Jan. 8 -- For Wahengbam Sudhir Meetei of Manipur, a career in Pencak Silat has neither been smooth nor certain. If financial difficulties meant that he had to focus on earning a living, a freak injury during training almost ended his sporting dreams.

Things got so difficult that he was forced to drop out of college after being unable to pay the fifth-semester fees for his Bachelor of Physical Education course and change from the Tanding (combat) category to the Artistic Category to keep playing the sport after that injury, as per a release from SAI Media.

But the 19-year-old has not only overcome these challenges but managed to carve a niche for himself as he along with Premchandra Yengkhom bagged the state's first gold medal at th...