Dehradun, Feb 5 (PTI) India's historic gold winning team members of 2022 Commonwealth Games -- Lovely Choubey and Rupa Tirkey -- shone on lawn bowls field while Balraj Panwar strengthened his status as a top rower as star performers from minor sports grabbed the spotlight at the National Games here Wednesday.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands cyclist David Beckham Elkatohchoongo, whose middle name saved him from being denied entry in the United Kingdom for the 2022 CWG, claimed his second gold of the Games, winning the men's time trial 1km event to add to his top podium finish in sprint on Tuesday.
As the Games entered its halfway stage, Karnataka led the medal tally with 28 gold, 11 silver and 15 bronze for a total haul of 54. Services, who added six gold to their kitty on Wednesday, bridged the gap with 27 gold, 10 silver and 9 bronze for a total of 46.
Madhya Pradesh moved up several notches to third with 34 medals (17 gold, 7 silver, 10 bronze). Maharashtra (16 gold, 35 silver, 31 bronze) and Haryana (12 gold, 19 silver, 20 bronze) rounded off the top five in the medal table.
At the lawn bowls field in Dehradun, Lovely Choubey and Rupa Tirkey, part of the history-scripting Indian team that won the women's fours event gold in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, took the spotlight as they helped Jharkhand to top podium finish.
Jharkhand beat West Bengal 18-8 in the women's fours final. The other two members of Jharkhand were Reshma Kumari and Kavita Kumari.
On August 2, 2022, the Indian women's lawn bowls team of Lovely Choubey (lead), Pinki (second), Nayanmoni Saikia (third) and Rupa Tirkey (skip) had created history by winning India's first medal -- a gold -- in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The unheralded quartet had beaten South Africa 17-10 in the women's fours final, pulling the sport from obscurity to limelight with the inspiring show.
Lovely was a constable with Jharkhand Police at that time while Rupa, who too is from Ranchi, worked in the sports department.
Jharkhand ran away with three gold in lawn bowls on Wednesday. The men's pair of Jharkhand comprising Dinesh Kumar and Sunil Bahadur beat the Assam duo of Biswajeet Khound and Biman Nath 25-4 in the final.
The third gold for Jharkhand came when Basanti Kumari beat Suranjana Baruah of Assam 21-20 in the women's U-25 final.
At the water Sports Complex in Tehri, Paris Olympian Balraj Panwar, who narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at the Asian Games in China last year, defended his men's single scull gold.
Panwar, born in Haryana but competing for Services here, clocked 7 minute and 26.68 seconds to row past the 2km distance and take the first place. Navdeep Singh (7:41.17) of Uttarakhand and Guru Pratap Singh (8:04.01) of Maharashtra took the silver and bronze respectively.
The 25-year-old Indian Army rower, who is also a two-time national champion, had finished fourth in the men's single scull event in his maiden appearance at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China last year, clocking 7:01.27.
He later qualified for the Paris Olympics where he finished 23rd.
Services and Madhya Pradesh shared the spoils in a straight fight for rowing supremacy as both collected five gold each.
The neck-and-neck rivalry was expected as both are among the top-class rowing facility providers in the country. Indian Army and Navy (whose athletes compete for Services) have top-class training facilities for rowers, the same in case of Madhya Pradesh also, especially in Bhopal.
Panwar had won the men's singles scull gold in the 2023 Goa National Games with a time of 6:28.5.
At the shooting range in Dehradun, Haryana's 18-year-old Suruchi Phogat won the gold medal in the women's 10m air pistol event with a remarkable score of 245.7.
Palak, also from Haryana, secured the silver medal with 243.6, while Simranpreet Kaur Brar from Punjab took home the bronze with a score of 218.8.
In archery, Haryana clinched two gold, while Punjab, Rajasthan and Delhi picked up one yellow metal each.
Veteran Rajat Chauhan of Rajasthan clinched gold in compound men's individual event while Deepshikha of Haryana won the corresponding women's title.
The compound women's team gold went to Punjab quartet of Parneet Kaur, Avneet Kaur, Jasveer Kaur and Raj Kaur, while the corresponding men's top spot was claimed by Delhi's Abhishek Verma, Priyansh, Aman Saini and Madhur.
Meanwhile, yogasana and mallakhamb were added as medal sports, a decision which was taken on the request of the organisers.
In December last year, the IOA had said that the 38th National Games in Uttarakhand (January 28 to February 14) would feature 32 core and four demonstration sports -- yogasana, mallakhambh, kalarippayattu and rafting.
But on Wednesday, the organisers issued a release in which yogasana and mallakhamb were added as medal sports.
The move meant that the ongoing National Games are being competed in 34 sports and two demonstration sports. Kalarippayattu -- a form of martial arts that originated in Kerala -- and rafting -- of which Rishikesh in Uttarakhand is a well-known place -- will remain as demonstration sports (non-medal).
In men's football competition in Haldwani, Uttarakhand entered the final, beating Delhi 5-3 in penalty shootout after both the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time in the semifinals.
The home state will meet Kerala -- the 3-2 victors over Assam -- in the final. PTI PDS PDS AH AH