Haryana sweep kabaddi, J&K surge to top-three with five-star show

Diu, May 23 (PTI) Haryana completed a clean sweep in kabaddi, winning both the men’s and women’s titles, while Jammu and Kashmir stormed into the top three of the medal tally with a five-gold effort in pencak silat on Day 5 of the Khelo India Beach Games here on Friday.

Tamil Nadu ruled the volleyball courts with twin titles, while Madhya Pradesh also opened their gold medal account with two wins in pencak silat on the penultimate day of KIBG.

With 12 pencak silat finals held on Friday, the medal table saw major changes.

J&K and Nagaland made the biggest gains, with the former picking up four gold to add to their Thursday's count, while Nagaland took two.

Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra also won their first gold in pencak silat.

At the Ghoghla beach, kabaddi powerhouse Haryana struck gold in both men’s and women’s finals. They had pulled off a similar feat at the Khelo India Youth Games earlier this month in Rajgir, Bihar.

Maharashtra took bronze in both categories.

In the men’s final, captain and Premier Kabaddi League's Haryana Steelers player Monu Hooda led from the front as Haryana beat Rajasthan 48-29, after leading 33-11 at half time.

"We had a strong preparation for that. We didn't have any competition only and it was easy. It's great to keep our stronghold intact, really a proud moment for us," Hooda told PTI.

The women’s team, with an average age of just 21, faced stiff resistance before beating Himachal Pradesh 45-38 in a tense final.

They held a narrow 22-20 lead at half time.

“We were under pressure to live up to our legacy, so it turned out to be a close contest. But full credit to all the girls for holding their nerve and sealing the win,” said Punam Dahiya, the seniormost member of the team with multiple national medals.

Punam, who has 12 years of experience and is employed with the Central Reserve Police Force, added: “Kabaddi has given me everything. It runs in the blood of every player from Haryana. We started from school grounds and made it all the way here.” On KIBG experience, she said: “Fantastic, we had a lot of fun. We just had to adjust to playing on sand, which was a bit different from what we’re used to.” Volleyball ======= The volleyball competition concluded with Tamil Nadu winning both the men’s and women’s events.

In the men’s final, it was an all-Tamil Nadu clash, while Kerala took the bronze.

The women’s gold also went to Tamil Nadu, who beat Puducherry. Andhra Pradesh finished with bronze.

Sepak takraw ========= In sepak takraw, North-East states continued to shine.

On Thursday night, Manipur defeated Nagaland 2-1 to win gold in the women’s trio event.

Assam edged Delhi 2-1 in the men’s final to secure their first gold of the Games.

Manipur finished with four medals in sepak takraw: gold in women’s trio, silver in both men’s and women’s team trio, and bronze in men’s trio.

“We don’t have proper beach or indoor facilities and it rains often in Assam. This gold shows the team’s hard work and spirit,” said Bidhumukhi Singha, coach of the men’s sepak takraw team and senior coach at the Khelo India Centre, Hailakhandi.

Final Results: VOLLEYBALL: Men: 1. Tamil Nadu (Gold), 2. Tamil Nadu (Silver), 3. Kerala (Bronze) Women: 1. Tamil Nadu (Gold), 2. Puducherry (Silver), 3. Andhra Pradesh (Bronze) KABADDI: Men: Gold – Haryana; Silver – Rajasthan; Bronze – Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh Women: Gold – Haryana; Silver – Himachal Pradesh; Bronze – Delhi, Maharashtra SEPAK TAKRAW (Trio Event) Men: Gold – Assam; Silver – Delhi; Bronze – Tamil Nadu, Manipur Women: Gold – Manipur; Silver – Nagaland; Bronze – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar PENCAK SILAT (Tanding) Senior Male Class D (60-65kg): Gold – Vaibhav Valmik Kale (Maharashtra); Silver – Pranjal Rabha (Assam); Bronze – Elangbam Dinesh Singh (Manipur), Suraj Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) Senior Male Class E (65-70kg): Gold – Saliqbin Farooq (Jammu and Kashmir); Silver – Yumnam Ranjan Singh (Manipur); Bronze – Mohammed Jasim CP (Kerala), Mukesh Chandraprakash Chaudhary (Maharashtra) Senior Female Class D (60-65kg): Gold – Nyia K Thono (Nagaland); Silver – Lucky Das (Assam), Bronze – Asha Babu Naik (Goa), Reeta Bhandari (Uttarakhand) Senior Female Class E (65-70kg): Gold – Muskaan (Jammu and Kashmir); Silver – Yamuna Chettri (Sikkim); Bronze – Avikali V Sheqi (Nagaland), Punambishnoi (Rajasthan) Senior Female Class F (70-75kg): Gold – Varsha (Haryana); Silver – Ishani Ghosh (West Bengal); Bronze – Khem Kumari Pradhan (Assam), Khyati Gamit (Gujarat) Senior Female Class H (80-85kg): Gold – KM Aarti (Uttar Pradesh); Silver – Anandita Patra (Odisha); Bronze – Ramela Khatun (Assam), Ruqia Manzoor (Jammu and Kashmir) Senior Male Class F (70-75kg): Gold – Ajay Kaila (Madhya Pradesh); Silver – M Logarjun (Andaman and Nicobar Islands); Bronze – Hansda Akash (DNHDD), Ajay Choudhary (Rajasthan) Senior Female Class G (75-80kg): Gold – Adeeba Gulzar (Jammu and Kashmir); Silver – Khushboo (Delhi); Bronze – Ritu Gill (Odisha), Gayatri Choudhary (Rajasthan) Senior Male Class G (75-80kg): Gold – Ajay Kumar (Punjab); Silver – Anshul Arun Kamble (Maharashtra); Bronze – Manish Singh (DNHDD), Vikram Bhasin (Delhi) Senior Male Class H (80-85kg): Gold – Kevin (Nagaland); Silver – Deepak Singh (Uttarakhand); Bronze – Sarfaraz Ali (Jammu and Kashmir), Ravi Choudhary (Rajasthan) Senior Male Class I (85-90kg): Gold – Mahendra Swami (Madhya Pradesh); Silver – Jibraan Maqsood (Jammu and Kashmir); Bronze – Rudra Pratap Sadangi (Odisha), Yashodhan Rana (Uttarakhand). PTI TAP PDS PDS