National Games 2023: Services clinch 10 gold medals on penultimate day to put pressure on leaders Maharashtra

Panaji: Defending champions Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) made a late push for the top spot in the medal standings by winning a total of 10 gold medals on the penultimate day of the 37th National Games in Panaji on Wednesday. The day also saw hosts Goa and Kerala jump several places in the standings by bagging 13 and eight gold medals respectively. Services rode on a strong showing in the boxing ring where they won five gold, one silver apart from clinching two gold medals in yachting, one each in men’s football, handball and kabaddi to take their gold medal tally to 65. Maharashtra continue to lead the standings with 75 gold and should end Services reign at the top since 2007. Haryana are third in the standings with 56 gold. While there was no movement in the top-3, hosts Goa and Kerala jumped to ninth and fifth position respectively. Hosts Goa saved their best for the last as the home contingent bagged 13 gold medals along with 13 silver and nine bronze medals to break into the top-10. The host contingent won eight gold medals in sqay martial arts at the Fatorda, three in boxing at Peddem and two in yachting to take their gold medal tally to 25. Kerala expectedly dominated the traditional martial art form of Kalarippayattu, as they won a total of 19 gold medals from the possible 22 to take their gold count to 36. At the Peddem Multipurpose Indoor Hall, SSCB boxers reigned supreme winning five gold and one silver out of the seven weight categories in the men’s section, while Haryana won three gold medals out of the six weight categories including World Champion Saweety Boora, who clinched the yellow metal in the 70-75 middleweight category. Two-time world youth champion, Sakshi Chaudhury, representing Goa, won the light fly weight category in dominant fashion. Haryana won gold in men’s hockey beating Karnataka 5-3, while Madhya Pradesh stunned Rani Rampal-led Haryana in shootout to win the gold medal in women’s section. Uttar Pradesh beat Maharashtra to win the bronze medal in men’s event, while Jharkhand got the better of Punjab by a solitary goal for the bronze in the women’s category. At the JLN Stadium in Fatorda, Services clinched gold in men’s football, beating Manipur 3-1. Earlier in the day, silver medallists from the previous edition, Kerala won the bronze beating Punjab in a shootout after both teams were locked goalless on regulation time. Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu’s Narmada Nithin Raju and Sri Karthik Sabari clinched gold in the 10m air rifle mixed team event in the shooting competition at the Manderem Range. The pair beat Aayushi Gupta and Pratham Bhadana of Uttar Pradesh in the gold medal round while Gautami Bhanot and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar of Madhya Pradesh beat Tilottama Sen and Darius Saurastri of Karnataka to win the bronze. Kabaddi powerhouse Haryana suffered defeats in both the finals at the Campal Multipurpose Indoor Stadium. In the women’s finals, Haryana lost to Himachal Pradesh 32-23 while the men went down to SSCB 34-25 to be content with the silver medal. Asian Games medallists, Vishnu Saravanan and Ebad Ali of SSCB showcased their class by winning the ILCA 7 and RS:X categories respectively in yachting at the Dona Paula Beach. Goan siblings Katya and Dayne Coelho clinched gold in the IQ foil category.