Ahmedabad: Assam’s Shivangi Sharma swam past Olympian Manna Patel of Gujarat to clinch the gold medal in the women’s 100m Freestyle final of the 36th National Games at the Sardar Patel Aquatics Complex in Rajkot.
Shivangi won in 58.77 seconds, leaving behind the more celebrated Manna, who took the silver after clocking 59.15s. Karnataka’s S Rujula (59.17) settled for the bronze medal after finishing two seconds behind the Gujarat swimmer.
Meanwhile, Olympian Srihari Nataraj (Karnataka) ended his campaign at the National Games swimming competition in a blaze of glory, capturing his sixth gold medal with a brilliant show in the men’s 100m Freestyle final. He won in 50.41 seconds, a new National Games record time.
Through the week, he watched his senior Sajan Prakash (Kerala) claim five gold, two silver and a bronze medal. Today, he stormed to a 100m Freestyle win, with Sajan Prakash finishing seventh. Srihari accomplished his mission of claiming the two Freestyle sprint gold medals to add to the two Backstroke titles besides anchoring Karnataka relay squads to two gold.
In the Road Cycling competition on the highway east of the Gujarat Capital, Karnataka ace Naveen John reminded himself the reason for being in the saddle today and pumped the pedal with greater intensity to successfully defend the men’s Individual Time Trial while Manipur’s Tongbram Monorama Devi overcame fever and headache to sprint ahead of Chayanika Gogoi (Assam) and Pooja Baban Danole (Maharashtra) to win the Women 85km Road Race.
Meanwhile, at the Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Manipur pugilist Alena Thounaojam was a class apart from her Kerala opponent in the 66kg weight class. Alena got off to an aggressive start before forcing the referees to stop the contest and award the bout in her favour. In men’s 75kg middleweight category bout, Mizoram’s Malsawmitluanga also made it to the last eight stage after recording a stunning 5-0 win over home boxer Sahil Aslam Bhai Nilgar. In the same event, reigning Asian champion Sanjeet and former junior world champion Mandeep Kaur also cruised to the quarterfinals of their respective weight divisions here.
In judo, Delhi’s Mohit Sherawat went for broke despite fighting with a dislocated right shoulder in his semifinal and final bouts to win the 81kg class gold. The national champion dislocated his shoulder midway through the quarterfinal against Sarabjit Singh of Punjab.
Services and Maharashtra rallied to win the men’s and women’s gold medals of the Water Polo competition in the Sardar Patel Aquatics Complex in Rajkot. Services recovered to defeat Kerala 10-8 with two last-minute goals in a nail-biting men’s final while Maharashtra women beat Kerala 5-3 in the last round robin match to win the title.
Tamil Nadu’ S Vaishnavi claimed the women’s Artistic Yogasana gold with 134.22 points, to be flanked on the podium by Maharashtra duo Chhakuli Bansilal Selokar (127.68) and Purva Shriram Kinare (126.68). Purva would draw immense satisfaction after the bronze medal effort, having sneaked into the final as the 10th and last qualifier.
In men’s Hockey at the Maj. Dhyan Chand Stadium in Rajkot, Karnataka beat hosts Gujarat 11-2 to earn a semifinal outing with Haryana, who showed Tamil Nadu the exit with a 3-0 victory. Uttar Pradesh edged out West Bengal via the penalty shootout after the thriller ended 1-1 in regular play. Uttar Pradesh will face Maharashtra who beat Jharkhand in the last quarterfinal.
Also Read | Sanjeet puts CWG horror past him, enters quarters at National Games
Shivangi did it, she is great girl helping our nation to feel proud!
congrats, very talented Indian girls.