Hosts DNHDD ride pencak silat wave to stay on top in Beach Games

Diu, May 21 (PTI) Karnataka’s Renukacharya Hodmani and Maharashtra’s Diksha Yadav emerged champions in the men's and women's open water swimming, while hosts Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu maintained their lead in the medal standings at the Khelo India Beach Games 2025 here on Wednesday.

The 10km open water swimming events, held in calm Arabian Sea waters early in the morning, proved to be among the most demanding contests so far.

Maharashtra's Diksha Yadav and Karnataka's Renukacharya Hodmani emerged champions in the women's and men's categories respectively.

Seventeen-year-old Renukacharya, who took up open water swimming just three years ago, clocked 2 hours 9 minutes and 40 seconds to clinch gold.

"I began swimming at the age of seven but switched to open water only recently," he said.

Diksha, who finished in 2:18:09, battled both waves and jellyfish stings during her race.

“Swimming in the Arabian Sea was fun, but the incoming waves sometimes blocked my vision. It was challenging, but I’m taking back valuable experiences from the Beach Games,” she said.

Pencak Silat ======== With three top podium finishes in pencak silat, the hosts DNHDD, meanwhile, edged ahead of Manipur, Maharashtra and Delhi in the overall tally.

The third gold for DNHDD came late on Tuesday when Princess Thomas triumphed in the women’s creative solo category.

Prasanna Bendre had clinched the men’s tunggal senior title, while Kirtana Acharya took gold in the women’s tunggal senior event.

Bendre also added a bronze in the ganda senior male event, partnering Sudhanshu Srivastava, as the hosts continued to enjoy unprecedented success in the traditional Indonesian martial art.

A total of eight gold medals have been decided so far in pencak silat.

Manipur picked up two -- in regu senior male and ganda senior male -- while Delhi, Punjab and Maharashtra took one each.

Punjab’s Aaryan won the men’s solo creative event with a score of 560, while Maharashtra’s duo of Riya Chavan and Prajakta Jadhav topped the ganda senior female category.

Delhi, led by a strong trio of Muskan, Mitali and Shital, claimed the regu senior female title.

Sepak takraw ======== The sepak takraw finals were equally gripping, albeit heartbreaking for Manipur, who lost both the men’s and women’s team (trio) finals.

Delhi defeated Manipur 2-1 in the men’s final, while Haryana edged past them by the same scoreline in the women’s summit clash.

Rain disrupted both matches, adding to the drama.

Delhi captain Sandeep Kumar, 35, revealed how the change in weather proved pivotal.

“We lost the first regu before the rains, but once the weather turned, it worked in our favour,” said Sandeep, who trains with his team along the Yamuna near Majnu Ka Tila.

The Games, which conclude on Saturday feature six medal sports -- beach football, volleyball, kabaddi, open water swimming, sepak takraw and pencak silat -- alongside two non-medal disciplines: mallakhamb and tug-of-war. PTI TAP AT AT