DEHRADUN, Jan 30: Tamil Nadu’s former World Cup-winning shooter Narmada Nithin Raju outgunned her more fancied rivals to win the 10m air rifle gold with a national record, even as Karnataka continued to top the medal tally with another strong show in the swimming pool at the National Games here Thursday.
The 23-year-old Narmada beat the likes of Asian Games medallist Ramita Jindal and Olympian Elavenil Valarivan as she shot 254.4 to create a national record but missed equalling the world mark by a fraction of a point on her way to gold.
Karnataka picked up a gold and a silver in swimming as well as a yellow metal in men’s road cycling event on Thursday to accumulate 12 medals (7 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze) and cling to the top position.
Manipur was closing in on second place with 11 medals (6 gold, 5 silver) after picking a gold each in wushu and triathlon on Thursday.
Last edition medal tally topper Maharashtra has so far won the maximum number of medals — 23 (4 gold, 11 silver, 8 bronze) — but its lesser number of yellow metals meant that it’s in the third spot as the competition heated up across sports at the end of the second day of competitions.
The brand new Trishool Shooting Range in Dehradun saw stiff competition in a star-studded field with Narmada running away with the accolades as she broke the earlier national mark of 252.9 set by Olympian Apurvi Chandela at the 2019 World Cup in New Delhi.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Chhattisgarh weightlifter Vijay Kumar clinched gold medal in the men’s 55kg category with a national record-equalling clean and jerk effort to have a share of the spotlight in the 38th National Games here on Thursday.
38th National Games
Another Chhattisgarh weightlifter Gyaneshwari Yadav won gold in the women’s 49kg with a total lift of 191kg (85kg+106kg), while Maharashtra’s Sarika Shingare (179kg total lift) and Komal Kohar (179kg) of Haryana bagged the silver and bronze respectively.
After a 105kg snatch, Kumar lifted 143kg in the clean and jerk section for a total of 248kg which handed him the gold. He now shares the clean and jerk national record with Maharashtra’s Sanket Sargar who made the mark in 2022.
Maharashtra took both the silver and bronze through Mukund Aher (total lift of 247kg) and Srinivas Goud (244kg).
ROAD CYCLING
Karnataka’s Naveen Thomus John and Maharashtra’s Pooja Baban Danole won the men’s and women’s road cycling gold medals, respectively, at the National Games here on Thursday.
Representing Services Sports Control Board in the men’s road cycling event, Dinesh Kumar claimed the silver medal, while Punjab’s Harshveer Singh Shekon bagged bronze.
In the women’s competition, Monika Jat of Rajasthan clinched silver and Karnataka’s Megha Gogad settled for bronze.
TRIATHLON
Maharashtra athletes delivered a stellar performance at the 38th National Games, securing six medals in triathlon events, including two gold, two silver, and as many bronze.
The state’s medal tally was further boosted by the recently-concluded duathlon (individual) event, where Maharashtra bagged one silver and a bronze.
Parth Sachin Miraje clinched bronze in the individual men’s cateogry, while Dolly Devdass Patil and Mansi Vinod Mohite shone in the women’s event, winning gold and silver, respectively.
In duathlon, Patil secured silver, and Mohite added another bronze to Maharashtra’s haul.
The state also triumphed in the mixed relay event, winning gold and cementing their position at the top of the triathlon medal standings.
Among other states, Madhya Pradesh won three medals (one gold, one silver, one bronze), while Manipur excelled in individual triathlon, claiming two golds and an additional gold in duathlon.
Services secured one silver and one bronze in duathlon, and Tamil Nadu earned a bronze in the mixed relay. (PTI)