National Games 2023: Maharashtra top medal tally after modern pentathlon and mallakhamb success

Maharashtra took the lead with 10 gold medals on the opening day of the National Games 2023 on Saturday.

Panaji:Riding on the clean sweep in mallakhamb and modern pentathlon, Maharashtra took a lead of over 10 golds in the medal tally over Haryana and defending champions Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) in the 37th National Games here on Saturday. Kerala women beat Karnataka 57-54 to defend their title and win the gold, while Punjab men won gold beating defending champions Tamil Nadu 105-103 in overtime in the basketball competitions.

Punjab had lost to Tamil Nadu in the finals of the last edition of the games. R. Sreekala top scored for Kerala with 29 points while Sanjana Ramesh top scored for Karnataka with 21 points in the tightly contested women's finals. Earlier, Tamil Nadu beat Uttar Pradesh 92-65 to win the bronze medal.

In the men's finals, Indian international Amjyot Singh's massive 42 point performance helped Punjab dethrone Tamil Nadu to win the gold. B. Soorya top-scored for Tamil Nadu with 28 points. Delhi beat Services 93-56 to secure the bronze medal with big performances from Indian team Captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and Joginder Singh.In gymnastics, Odisha's Pranati Nayak clinched her fourth gold medal of the games, winning the women's artistic balancing beam category with 11.733 points.

Pranati Das of West Bengal secured the silver, her fourth of the games and Mallika Kulshreshtha of Delhi won the bronze. In rhythmic gymnastics, Haryana's Life Adlakha denied Maharashtra's Sanyukta Kale the clean sweep by clinching the gold medal in ribbon category with 23.70 points. Sanyukta Kale won the silver and Richa Chordia won the bronze.

At the Campal Sports Village, Maharashtra swept all the gold medals in mallakhamb. They grabbed all the six gold medals on offer with Rupali Gangawane winning two gold medals in women's rope and pole categories. In the women's 81kg, N. Lalitha of Andra Pradesh lifted a total of 211 kg on her way to gold. Vanshitha Verma Chandigarh won the silver with a total lift of 208 kg and Rakhi Purohit of Rajasthan won bronze with an aggregate lift of 207 kg.

Among men, Kojum Tara of SSCB won the gold with a total lift of 330 Kg, four kilos more than Goa's Shubham Verma who lifted 326 Kg and five kilos more than Mohammed Jameir Hussain who lifted 325 kg. In the women's 87 kg, Maharashtra's Komal Wakale won gold with a total lift of 205 kg and Karnataka's B.N Usha won the silver with a lift of 203 Kg and Rakhi of Haryana won bronze with a lift of 196 kg.

Maharashtra continued their dominance in modern pentathlon, winning all five golds in the Biathle held at Ponda Indoor Swimming Complex. Parth Mirage and Mansi Vinod Mohite won three gold medals each in the individual and team events. In fencing, Services clinched the gold medal in the men's sabre team event beating Maharashtra in the finals.

Punjab and Rajasthan secured the bronze medals. In women's foil individual, Tamil Nadu's Ashitha S. Joy beat V.P Kanagalakshmi of Kerala in the final to win the gold. Waikhom Sonia Devi of Manipur and Isha of Haryana won the bronze medals.