By Abhishek Roy,

Guwahati, Feb 19 (IANS) They say all good things must come to an end and so it was at the 33rd National Games here that ended Sunday with a colourful closing ceremony -- but not before triggering a sports revolution in Assam.

The National Games, held four years after the 32nd edition in Hyderabad, was shrouded with controversy after the separatist United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) called for a boycott. However, the militant outfit decided to lift their boycott call after an appeal by some prominent sportspersons of the state.

The 33rd National Games will be remembered as the most successful games in India's sports history because of its smooth conduct despite apprehensions in a place where bullets fly thick and fast.

The credit should go to the people who braved the cold and flocked to all the 20 venues to cheer up the participants of all the 32 contingents and eventually made the National Games a memorable experience.

It has been a fabulous 10 days with citius, altius and fortius (swifter, higher, and stronger) being the mantra for the participating athletes.

It was earlier thought that the National Games would be stripped of much of its shine after some top players decided to give it a miss due to major international meets.

But even the absence of shooters like Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Manavjit Singh Sandhu or athletes like Anju Bobby George and Soma Biswas failed to dampen the spirit as the crowd flocked to all the venues to keep the spirit of the game.

The Services team, representing all the three defence wings, emerged at the top with a total haul of 142 medals, including 59 gold medals, 46 silver and 37 bronze. They were followed by Manipur, with 51 gold, 32 silver and 40 bronze medals.

Hosts Assam came up with a sterling display, raking in 148 medals, including 38 gold, 53 silver and 57 bronze medals, and finishing third much to the crowd's delight.

Forty-three records were broken in the 33rd edition, with the swimmers stealing the show as 20 marks were set in the pool only.

Karnataka swimmer Rehan Poncha emerged as the best male athlete after he won nine gold medals and set three Games records.

Delhi girl Richa Mishra won the honours in the women's section and was also the top swimmer as she bettered her performance from the last edition and won eight gold medals. In 2002, Richa had bagged seven gold medals.

Hosts Assam found a new star in 15-year-old Fariha Zaman. The schoolgirl bagged only one gold medal but showed immense talent and is tipped to be the next big name in swimming.

In athletics, Kerala with 12 gold medals, eight silver and six bronze. In all, they won 31 gold and had a total haul of 75 to finish fourth in the medals table.

Preeja Sreedharan and Arunjith Sivadasan Nair were the top performers for Kerala in the track and field events as they won three gold medals.

In shooting, top names like Gagan Narang, Samresh Jung and Raunak Pandit did not have an outing worth mentioning but Maharashtra's Tejaswani Samant hogged the limelight by winning six gold medals. The 26-year-old girl made two new Games records and equalled one.

Services' men showed their fine form in shooting with Pemba Tamang picking up three gold and two silver while Sanjeev Rajput pocketed three gold and a silver. Rajput, a navy man, also scripted a National Games record.

In the middle of all the excitement was some tragedy. Some rowers of the Services team were critically injured when their bus overturned on the way to the Games Village. The accident forced them to pull out of some rowing events, but that did not deter them from emerging as the top team.