Srinagar, Aug 23: Madhya Pradesh showcased their dominance at the Khelo India Water Sports Festival by winning 18 medals, 10 of them gold, as they topped the tally in the inaugural edition held at the scenic Dal Lake, here on Saturday.
Odisha and Kerala, riding on fine showing by their athletes who train at Sports Authority of India centres in Jagatpur in Odisha and the National Centre of Excellence in Alappuzha, finished second and third with 10 and 7 medals respectively.
Odisha bagged four gold, five silver and a bronze, while Kerala finished with three gold, one silver and three bronze.
It was another fruitful day for Madhya Pradesh water sports exponents as they added six more gold to the four kayaking and canoeing gold they had won on Friday, with the celebrated trio of Shikha Chauhan, Rina Sen and Pallavi Jagtap winning two gold and a silver for Madhya Pradesh.
There was a lot of focus on Shikha, Rina and Pallavi who returned with a historic silver medal from the Asian Canoe Slalom Championship in Guizhou, China. Shikha, who hails from Indore, won the kayaking singles slalom gold, while Pallavi, a 12th standard student from Dewas, clinched the No. 1 spot in the C1 Slalom event.
Madhya Pradesh, whose canoe and kayak athletes train at the state-run centre of excellence in Bhopal, also won three silver and five bronze medals in the two-day event.
Odisha’s Rasmita Sahoo, who won the women’s C2 500m sprint pairing Achoibam Sanatombi Devi on Saturday, was a standout athlete at the KIWSF winning two gold medals.
Tokyo Olympian, Arjun Lal Jat (3.28.68 sec), representing Delhi, won silver behind Odisha’s Aviraj (3.37.54 sec) in the men’s 1000m single scull. (PTI)
