Archer Deepika Kumari wins two gold medals at National Games

With three more days remaining, Maharashtra is leading the medals tally with 68 gold, while Services and Haryana are second and third with 54 and 50 gold medals, respectively.

FILE PHOTO: Deepika, representing Jharkhand, began her medal rush with a gold in the women’s individual category, and later paired with Mrinal Chauhan to secure the top podium finish in the mixed team category.

Former world No. 1 archer Deepika Kumari clinched two gold and a silver medal, while Asian Championships gold medal-winning shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar bagged the top spot in 50m rifle 3-positions event at the National Games here on Monday.

Deepika, representing Jharkhand, began her medal rush with a gold in the women’s individual category, and later paired with Mrinal Chauhan to secure the top podium finish in the mixed team category.

She also helped Jharkhand win silver in the women’s team event, where it lost to Haryana in the shootout.

Table-topper Maharashtra, third-placed Haryana and Assam shared the other gold medals in recurve as the archery events concluded on Monday.

With three more days remaining, Maharashtra is leading the medals tally with 68 gold, while Services and Haryana are second and third with 54 and 50 gold medals, respectively.

In shooting, Tomar pipped Niraj Kumar of Services to win gold. Services’ Chain Singh, who had topped the qualifying, won the bronze.

In men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol, Vijayveer Sidhu, representing Punjab, clinched the gold medal, while Haryana’s Anish Bhanwala and Adarsh Singh won the silver and bronze, respectively.

In judo, Delhi won three out of the eight gold medals on offer, while Manipur bagged two. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab won the other three gold medals.

Punjab and Odisha shared the coastal beach sprint mixed team event gold, while Madhya Pradesh bagged the women’s kayak quadruples.

Suman Devi of Haryana clinched gold in the coastal beach sprint women’s event ahead of Telangana’s Beeda Hemalatha and Maharashtra’s Nikita Darekar.

In the men’s category, Services’ Salman Khan pipped Olympian rower Dattu Bhokanal of Maharashtra to win gold, while Odisha’s Sourbh Kumar won the bronze.

Services defender Zothanpuia (left, No. 5) plucks the ball away from Kerala forward M.A. Suhail in the men’s semifinal of the National Games football in Fatorda on Monday. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Services and Manipur posted contrasting wins and entered the men’s football final of the 37th National Games here on Monday.

Services defeated Kerala 4-2, while Manipur beat Punjab 2-1 in the semifinals.

Nijo Gilbert, who scored off a penalty, gave Kerala the lead in the 27th minute. But Services equalised through Rahul Ramakrishnan early in the second half, and Christopher Kemei and Bikash Thapa added two more. In between, G. Sanju G reduced the margin for Kerala.

In the other semifinal, Manipur raced to a 2-0 lead at halftime with goals from Phijam Sanathoi Metei and Leimajam Sangkar Singh, but Punjab, which scored through Abhishek Rattu, made it tight in the second half.