Hinaben Khalifa became just the second wrestler from Gujarat to medal at the National Games and the hosts also won the mixed badminton team bronze on a day when five Games records were broken in the pool.
Hinaben Khalifa had been training under the radar at the Gujarat Government Center of Excellence in Nadiad, but seized the opportunity to pick up a bronze medal in the women’s 53kg category.
She started her campaign with an easy victory over Ritika of Himachal Pradesh and then won by technical superiority against Priyanka Sikarwar of Uttarakhand. She was, however, no match for eventual champion Antim Panghal of Haryana.
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But Hinaben Khalifa regrouped in time for the bronze medal fight against Shivani. She took a 2-0 lead early in the competition and then scored three successive points immediately after the break. With barely a minute to play, Shivani managed to salvage a point but Khalifa snuffed out any other scoring opportunity to win 7-1.
“It would have been great to win the gold in front of the home crowd. But unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned. It’s a great learning curve for me, and getting a bronze medal at the National Games will boost my confidence,” Hinaben Khalifa said after the fight.
“The level of competition is really high in my weight class. Antim has been a world beater, Priyanshi is the top seed, it’s healthy competition and each wrestler has to put in a lot of effort to overtake the other,” she added.
However, Gujarat were heartbroken in the women’s 57kg category as Bhavika Patel lost 4-6 to Maharashtra’s Sonali Mandlik in the bronze medal qualifier.
In Surat, mixed badminton team Gujarat fought against second-seeded Kerala in the semi-finals but lost 1-3. However, the first-ever semi-final appearance secured them a historic bronze medal.
Elsewhere, Aneesh S. Gowda heralded his arrival as a bright prospect on the senior scene in telling fashion, scripting a storybook victory over veteran Sajan Prakash in the men’s 200m freestyle final in the men’s competition. National Aquatic Games at Sardar Patel Aquatics. Resort in Rajkot.
On a day that saw five National Games records rewritten in the pool, Aneesh Gowda’s 1:51.88 was the standout effort. The Karnataka teenager, who won the event at the National Championships last month, showed nerves of steel and immaculate focus against the Olympian.
Not to be outdone, the track and field competitors also produced four National Games records in five finals at IIT Gandhinagar on Sunday. Services high jumper Sarvesh Anil Kushare with a clearance of 2.27m and Usaid Khan of Uttar Pradesh who won the decathlon with 7121 points.
Yamandeep Sharma (Rajasthan) joined Usaid as the first two men to pass 7000 points at the National Games. Haryana Men’s 4x400m Relay Quartet and Tamil Nadu 4×400 Team are the others who set new National Games records.
2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist weightlifter Deepak Lather (Haryana) clinched gold in the men’s 81kg after a fierce battle with Services star Ajay Singh at Mahatma Mandir. Deepak took the top spot on the podium with a total lift of 315kg while Ajay Singh finished just 1kg behind, despite lifting two kilos more in Clean and Jerk.
On the opening day of hockey competitions, Sunelit Toppo scored the winner for Odisha in their 3-2 victory over Uttar Pradesh in a women’s Group A match at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in Rajkot. Favorites Haryana beat novices Gujarat 30-1 in another game, with Navneet Kaur and Neha leading the scoring with five goals apiece. For the hosts, Muskan Kureshi got a consolation goal in the 37th minute.
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