KIBG 2026: local favourite Princess Alexander Thomas, Bengal’s Raja Das clinch gold in Pencak Silat

Diu, Jan 6 (PTI) Home favourite Princess Alexander Thomas of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu clinched the first gold of the Khelo India Beach Games 2026 with a confident performance in the women’s tunngal category in pencak silat here on Tuesday.

Raja Das of West Bengal emerged victorious in the men’s tunngal at the Ghoghla Beach here.

With two medals up for grabs on the second day of competitions on Tuesday, the hosts were in contention of winning both the gold medals just like last year. Princess Alexander Thomas gave them a perfect start as she defeated Bhoomika Jitendra Jain of Madhya Pradesh in the women’s final.

Last edition gold medallist Prasanna Bendre was the favourite in the men’s final against Raja Das, but the West Bengal athlete showcased better technical ability to prevail over the home favourite.

Elsewhere, competition for the semi-final spots heated up in Beach Kabaddi after Haryana registered their second straight win in Pool A, beating Maharashtra 47-26.

Both the teams were neck and neck in the first 10 minutes of the match but once the Maharashtra players started to slow down in the sand, Haryana women took control of the proceedings.

In the men’s section, Uttar Pradesh men were too good for Andhra Pradesh in Pool A, at times even winning as many as three touch points in one raid. To their credit, the Andhra team members fought hard and tried to keep pace with quality raids of their own but ended up on the losing side of a 43-34 scoreline.

In Beach Soccer, favourites Kerala began their campaign with a dominating 15-2 win over Karnataka in which all the four of their first team outfield players scoring three goals each. Hosts Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu were also at their rampant best, beating Himachal Pradesh 15-1.

In the evening session, Gujarat women punctured Himachal Pradesh’s hopes of another upset win as they dominated the Group B match to win 9-0. Himachal Pradesh women, making their debut in Beach Soccer, had defeated the hosts 7-5 on Monday in their group opener.

Group matches also started in Beach Volleyball with teams from Goa, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh making a winning start to their campaign.

The Khelo India Beach Games 2026, organised by the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, is being held under the technical supervision of the Sports Authority of India and national sports federations.

The second edition of the Games features over 1100 participants in eight different sports -- volleyball, soccer, sepak takraw, kabaddi, pencak silat, Open water swimming, mallakhamb and tug-of-war.

The first six will be medal sports and 32 gold medals will be up for grabs. PTI PDS PDS APA APA