With five gold medals from the swimming pool, Karnataka leapfrogged Services to return to the top spot at the 38th National Games with 42 medals (22 gold, 10 silver, 10 bronze)
Four national records tumbled in the weightlifting arena while Karnataka swimmers Srihari Nataraj and Dhinidhi Desinghu matched one other in their fierce rivalry as the southern state picked up five gold medals from the pool to leapfrog to the top of the medal tally in the National Games on Monday. (More Sports News)
Punjab's Mehak Sharma broke three national records -- snatch, clean and jerk, and total lift -- en route to winning gold in women's 87+ kg category, while Tamil Nadu's S Rudramayan bettered the national mark in snatch in men's 109+kg on the final day of weightlifting competitions in Dehradun.
At the swimming pool in Haldwani, Nataraj and Desinghu continued their fierce rivalry, both clinching their seventh gold medal to stay on course to becoming the best male and female athletes, respectively, of the Games.
With five gold medals from the pool, Karnataka leapfrogged Services to return to the top spot with 42 medals (22 gold, 10 silver, 10 bronze). The southern state was also on top of the medal tally on the first two days of competition.
Services are at second spot with 38 medals (19 gold, 10 silver, 9 bronze), followed by Maharashtra (15 gold, 26 silver, 20 bronze) and Manipur (11 gold, 10 silver, 5 bronze).
The 29-year-old Mehak broke the national records she had set four months ago at the National Championships in Himachal Pradesh. She lifted 106kg in snatch, surpassing her previous national mark of 105kg. She then came up with 141kg in her final clean-and-jerk attempt, bettering her national record of 140kg.
With a total lift of 247kg, three kilograms more than her previous national mark of 244kg, Mehak beat her rivals by a huge margin for the gold.
The silver medal went to Purnima Pandey of Uttar Pradesh, who lifted a total of 216kg, while the bronze was secured by Satya Jyothi of Karnataka with a total lift of 201kg. Medals are awarded only for total lift of the participants.
"I was confident because I had practised well, but I never thought I would break all three records. Now that I have done it, I am satisfied," an elated Mehak said after the win.
In the men's 109+kg category, another national record was broken by S Rudramayan of Tamil Nadu when he lifted 175kg in snatch, bettering the national mark of 172kg in the name of Gurdeep Singh of Railways.
However, Rudramayan could not maintain his form in the clean and jerk, lifting 180kg and finishing with a total of 355kg, which earned him the silver medal. The gold medal was won by Lovepreet Singh of Services, who lifted a total of 367kg.
Meanwhile, Desinghu, the 14-year-old swimming sensation, came first in the women's 400m freestyle with a new Games record of 4 minutes and 24.60 seconds and then formed the quartet with Nataraj and two others to win gold in mixed 4x100m freestyle with a time of 3 minutes and 41.03 seconds.
The other two members of the team were Akash Mani and Nina Venkatesh.
"I started swimming at the age of seven to make friends... Setting a Games record is a proud moment for me, and I hope to continue improving," Desinghu said.
The 24-year-old Nataraj, also a Paris Olympian like Desinghu, grabbed his second gold of the day in the men's 50m backstroke with a time of 26.09 seconds.
With the two gold on Monday, Desinghu has won nine medals so far in the Games, having earlier won five gold (200m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay and 50m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay), one silver (50m butterfly) and one bronze -- (4x100m relay medley).
For Nataraj, Monday's two gold took him to eight medals in total in the ongoing Games. He has earlier won five gold -- 200m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m freestyle relay medley, 4x200m freestyle relay and 100m backstroke -- and a silver -- 50m freestyle.
Nataraj and Desinghu would be strong contenders to win the best male and female athletes of the Games award. Nataraj had won the accolade in the 2023 edition of the Games in Goa with eight gold, one silver and one bronze.
In the 2022 edition in Gujarat, Nataraj was beaten by Sajan Prakash (who won the accolade in 2015 also) for the honour despite winning eight medals, including two gold.
In shooting, Karnataka's 15-year-old Jonathan Antony delivered a grand performance on the biggest domestic stage when he outwitted Paris Olympics bronze-medallist Sarabjot Singh and the more fancied Saurabh Chaudhary to clinch the 10m air pistol gold.
Jonathan, whose shooting career took wings when he won gold in the CBSE South Zone Rifle Shooting Competition in 2022 while studying in eighth standard, shot a superb 240.7 in the final to overcame the challenge of Services veterans Ravinder Singh (silver, 240.3) and Gurpreet Singh (bronze, 220.1) and Sarabjot, who won a bronze in the Paris Olympics' 10m air pistol mixed team event with Manu Bhaker last year.
Sarabjot finished fourth on Monday.
"I'm thrilled with this win. Competing against such talented shooters who have represented India at the highest level makes this victory even more meaningful. Today was my day, and I'm proud of how it all came together," Antony said.
Punjab's Asian Games gold medallist Sift Kaur Samra secured gold in the women's 50m rifle 3-positions event after shooting a superb 461.2 to overcome the challenge of state-mate Olympian Anjum Moudgil, who shot 458.7.
Surabhi Bharadwaj of Telangana bagged the bronze medal, shooting 448.8.