Goa, November 2, 2023: wimmer Sanjana Prabhugaonkar bagged her third medal of the 37th National Games, clinching the silver medal in the 100m backstroke while Janiva Fernandes won a bronze medal in Wushu to take Goa’s medals tally to 34.
Prabhugaonkar, who had won the 200m freestyle silver and 200m backstroke bronze, went neck and neck against eventual gold medallist Palak Joshi of Maharashtra for major part ot the race before finishing the race with a time of 1:05.73s to bag the silver medal.
Joshi set a time of 1:05.29s to win her second gold of the Games while Karnataka’s Ridhima Veerendra Kumar took home the bronze medal with a timing of 1:05.86s. Earlier, Janiva Danita Fernandes won a bronze medal Daoshu women category with a score of 7.10 to help Goa win their second medal in two days from the Wushu arena. Arunachal Pradesh’s Nyeman Wangshu won the gold while Sunita Gari of Jharkhand bagged the silver medal.
Speaking after winning the medal, Janiva said she was always confident of winning a medal as she had prepared well for the National Games. “I don’t get to play many competitions but I had worked a lot with my father, who is also my coach, and I am happy that I won a medal for the state,” said the 16-year-old.
Maharashtra continue to lead the standings with 57 gold, 45 silver and 47 bronze medals and have a sizeable advantage over defending champions Services Sports Control Board, who after a slow start now has 33 gold medals and 12 silver and bronze each. Haryana is currently third with a total of 65 medals, including 24 gold.
In the Cycling competitions being held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi, there were no upsets on offer as Indian internationals won all four gold medals on offer. Naman Kapil of Punjab 15 Km Scratch Race while Meenakshi of Haryana won the 10 Km Scratch Race.
David Beckham of Andaman & Nicobar Islands edged out his national team compatriots Rojit Singh and Venkappa Kengalagutti to win the gold in the 1000 M Individual Time Trial and also win the union territories first medal of the games. In the Women’s 500 M Individual Time Trial Delhi’s Triyasha Paul won the gold.
At the Campal Indoor Complex where table tennis action ended on Thursday, third seed Ghosh blanked fifth seed Yashansh Malik of Delhi 4-0 men’s singles final while Archana defeated Maharashtra’s Diya Chitale 4-1.
Anirban, who did well to beat title favourites Ankur Bhattacharya in the semi-final, was not troubled at all by the lanky Delhi paddler in the final. Except for the third game, where Yashansh extended Anirban, it was just a matter of time for the West Bengal paddler to end his rival’s agony.
In the women’s singles, Archana had to work hard to beat Lakshita in the semis but rode on the momentum in the final after finding the range of her backhand strokes. There was a moment in the fourth game when Diya hit the groove. But it didn’t last long as Archana wrapped it up in the extended fifth game to claim the gold.
Diya, however, can take pride in winning gold in the mixed doubles, combining with seasoned campaigner Sanil Shetty to beat West Bengal’s Ankur Bhattacharya and Kaushani Nath in straight games.
About National Games: The 37th National Games Goa 2023 is a prestigious sporting event aimed at promoting sportsmanship and unity across India. It will feature 43 sports disciplines with over 10,000+ athletesthat will compete from 28 Indian States, eight Union Territories and Services. The event will take place from October 26th to November 9th, 2023, at 28 venues across Goa, India.