DEHRADUN, Feb 11:
Track stars Jyothi Yarraji and Animesh Kujur picked up a second and third gold medal of the meet respectively while 15 race walkers bettered the National Games record even as Services continued to rule the roost in the overall medal tally today.
The 21-year-old Kujur, representing Odisha, added the 200m gold to his kitty of 100m and 4x100m relay titles he had won on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
His 200m gold-winning time of 20.58 seconds on the penultimate day of athletics competitions narrowly fell short of the National Games record of 20.55 seconds set by Amlan Borgohain of Assam in the 2022 edition in Gujarat.
The 25-year-old Yarraji, representing Andhra Pradesh, won the women’s 200m gold with a time of 23.35 seconds to add to the 100m hurdles top prize she had won on Sunday.
Delhi’s middle distance runner KM Chanda improved her own Games record in the women’s 800m. On her way to gold, Chanda clocked 2:00.82 to better her earlier record of 2:01.58 set in 2022.
It was a grand double for Chanda as she was also the winner of 1500m gold. It was also a hat-trick of gold medals for the Asian Championships silver medallist. She had won gold in the 2022 and 2023 editions of the National Games, emulating the feats of Yarraji (women’s 100m hurdles gold in 2022, 2023, 2025) and Tejas Shirse (men’s 110m hurdles gold in 2022, 2023, 2025) of Maharashtra. (PTI)
Services added a whopping 17 medals, including nine gold, on Tuesday to remain on top with 54 gold, 22 silver, 21 bronze for a total haul of 97 as just two competition days are left in the Games.
Last edition’s top team Maharashtra also remained at second spot with 144 medals (41 gold, 51 silver, 52 bronze). Karnataka was third with 75 medals (33 gold, 18 silver, 24 bronze).
Haryana (28 gold, 40 silver, 44 bronze) and Madhya Pradesh (25 gold, 18 silver, 18 bronze) rounded off the top five.
Earlier in the morning session of athletics competition, all the nine competitors who finished the women’s 10km race walk bettered the previous Games record set 26 years ago in an unprecedented result.
Eleven athletes started the race but two could not finish. The event returned to the National Games for the first time after the 1999 edition in Manipur.
Haryana’s Ravina, who had won the National Inter-State and National Open Championships last year in 20km event, clinched the gold with a time 45.52 seconds, bettering the earlier Games record of 51.56 seconds set by Y Bala Devi of Manipur in the 1999 Games in Imphal.
All the other eight athletes who followed Ravina at the finish line also clocked better times than the earlier Games record of 51.56 seconds.
In the men’s 20km event, six competitors out of 10 who finished the race bettered the earlier Games record of 1 hour, 23 minutes and 26 seconds set by Gurmeet Singh of Jharkhand in the 2011 edition.
Servin Sebastian of Services took the gold with a personal best time of 1:21:23. Uttarakhand’s Suraj Panwar, who competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the marathon race walking mixed relay event along with Priyanka Goswami, took the silver with a time of 1:21:34, while Amanjot Singh of Punjab secured the bronze, clocking 1:21:42.
In tennis, Gujarat’s Vaidehi Chaudhary won her second gold medal as she claimed the women’s singles title after defeating Vaishnavi Adkar of Maharashtra 6-4, 6-4 in the summit clash.
She had also won the women’s doubles gold on Monday along with Zeel Desai
The men’s singles gold went to Ishak Iqbal of Services who made a comeback after losing the first set to beat Gujarat’s Dev Javia 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in the final.
Tamil Nadu pair of Lohith Aksh Badrinath and Lakshmi Prabha Arun Kumar clinched the mixed doubles gold after defeating Karnataka’s Nikki K Poonacha and Soha Sadiq 6-4, 6-1 in the final.
Gymnastics powerhouse Maharashtra picked up five gold and two silver medals to rule the roost.
From acrobatic to trampoline events, Maharashtra gymnasts showcased exceptional skill, outshining their rivals from other states. They won gold in men’s and women’s acrobatic women’s group (senior), acrobatic mixed pair (senior), women’s pair (senior) and men’s trampoline event.
Karnataka won gold in men’s pair (senior) event, while the trampoline women’s category saw Andhra Pradesh winning the yellow metal.
In judo competitions, host Uttarakhand’s Unnati Sharma claimed the gold in women’s -63kg event, while the top prize in the women’s -70kg division went to Garima Chaudhary of Haryana.
In the men’s -81kg category, Harshpreet Singh of Punjab took the top spot while Bharam Kumar Vats of Madhya Pradesh won the gold in the men’s -90kg event.
In Sattal, Maharashtra and Services shone on the last day of mountain biking competition.
Maharashtra’s Pranita Prafull Soman clinched the gold medal in the women’s elite XCO (Cross-country Olympics) event with a time of 01:22:10.818 in the final.
The gold in men’s elite XCO event gold went to Kushiman Gharti of Services who clocked 01:19:20.0265.
Haryana won gold in both the men’s and women’s netball (Fast 5) events, beating Kerala and Telangana respectively in the final.
In fencing, Tamil Nadu’s Nidhi Gisho claimed the men’s sabre gold medal after defeating Oinam Jubraj of Services 15-12. In women’s epee, Haryana’s Taniksha Khatri won the top prize after defeating Punjab’s Ena Arora 15-12 in the final. (PTI)
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