DEHRADUN, Feb 11:
Athletes Jyothi Yarraji and Animesh Kujur excelled once again, capturing the second and third gold medals of the meet respectively, while 15 race walkers set new marks, as the Services team continued to dominate the overall medal standings.
The 21-year-old Kujur, who represents Odisha, secured gold in the 200m, adding to the titles he had claimed in the 100m and 4x100m relay over the weekend.
His gold-winning time of 20.58 seconds in the 200m was just shy of the National Games record of 20.55 seconds previously set by Amlan Borgohain of Assam during the 2022 event in Gujarat.
The 25-year-old Yarraji from Andhra Pradesh triumphed in the women’s 200m with a time of 23.35 seconds, complementing the gold medal she won in the 100m hurdles the day before.
KM Chanda from Delhi shattered her own Games record in the women’s 800m event, clinching gold with a time of 2:00.82, surpassing her previous record of 2:01.58 established in 2022.
Chanda achieved a remarkable double victory by also winning gold in the 1500m event. This marks her third consecutive gold medal at the Asian Championships, matching the achievements of fellow athletes Yarraji (women’s 100m hurdles gold in 2022, 2023, and 2025) and Tejas Shirse (men’s 110m hurdles gold in 2022, 2023, and 2025) of Maharashtra. (PTI)
On Tuesday, Services amassed an impressive 17 medals, including nine gold, bringing their total to 54 gold, 22 silver, and 21 bronze, for an overall count of 97 medals as the Games approach their final two days.
Last year’s top team, Maharashtra, held onto the second position with 144 medals (41 gold, 51 silver, 52 bronze), while Karnataka remained 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 out the top five standings.
In an impressive morning session of athletics, all nine participants who completed the women’s 10km race walk surpassed the previous Games’ record set 26 years ago.
Eleven athletes initiated the race, but two did not finish. This event marked its return to the National Games for the first time since the 1999 edition in Manipur.
Haryana’s Ravina, who won both the National Inter-State and National Open Championships last year in the 20km event, secured gold with a time of 45.52 seconds, breaking the previous Games record of 51.56 seconds set by Y Bala Devi of Manipur in 1999.
The other eight athletes who followed Ravina also recorded times better than the previous Games record of 51.56 seconds.
In the men’s 20km event, six out of the ten finishers improved upon the former Games record of 1 hour, 23 minutes and 26 seconds, established by Gurmeet Singh of Jharkhand in 2011.
Servin Sebastian from Services took gold with a personal best time of 1:21:23, while Uttarakhand’s Suraj Panwar, who participated in the 2024 Paris Olympics marathon race walking mixed relay, earned silver at 1:21:34. Amanjot Singh of Punjab secured bronze with a time of 1:21:42.
In tennis, Gujarat’s Vaidehi Chaudhary achieved her second gold medal by winning the women’s singles title, defeating Vaishnavi Adkar of Maharashtra with a score of 6-4, 6-4.
She had previously claimed the women’s doubles gold alongside Zeel Desai on Monday.
The men’s singles gold went to Ishak Iqbal of Services, who made a stunning comeback after losing the first set to overcome Gujarat’s Dev Javia 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in the final.
The Tamil Nadu duo of Lohith Aksh Badrinath and Lakshmi Prabha Arun Kumar triumphed in the mixed doubles event, defeating Karnataka’s Nikki K Poonacha and Soha Sadiq with a score of 6-4, 6-1.
Maharashtra, a gymnastics powerhouse, collected five gold and two silver medals, showcasing their exceptional skills across various disciplines, including men’s and women’s acrobatic events and trampoline competitions.
Karnataka secured gold in the men’s pair event, while Andhra Pradesh claimed the top prize in the women’s trampoline category.
In judo, local athlete Unnati Sharma from Uttarakhand won the gold medal in the women’s -63kg division, while Garima Chaudhary of Haryana took the top prize in the women’s -70kg category.
In the men’s -81kg event, Harshpreet Singh of Punjab emerged victorious, and Bharam Kumar Vats of Madhya Pradesh earned gold in the men’s -90kg division.
In Sattal, Maharashtra and Services excelled on the final day of the mountain biking competition.
Maharashtra’s Pranita Prafull Soman secured gold in the women’s elite XCO (Cross-country Olympics) event with a time of 01:22:10.818.
The men’s elite XCO gold was claimed by Kushiman Gharti of Services, finishing in 01:19:20.0265.
Haryana earned gold in both men’s and women’s netball (Fast 5) events, defeating Kerala and Telangana respectively in the finals.
In fencing, Nidhi Gisho of Tamil Nadu won the men’s sabre gold after defeating Oinam Jubraj of Services with a score of 15-12. In the women’s epee competition, Haryana’s Taniksha Khatri claimed victory over Punjab’s Ena Arora, also with a score of 15-12 in the final. (PTI)
