The hosts produced their best-ever day in terms of medal gains, on the penultimate day of the 37th National Games, bagging a whopping 11 gold, 11 silver and six bronze medals on Wednesday.
Goa won six gold medals in Sqay Martial Arts at the Fatorda, three in boxing at Peddem and two in Yachting at Hawaii beach.
India’s top woman IQ Foiler Katya Coleho, who presented the torch to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the opening ceremony, and her brother Dayne added two gold medals to Goa’s tally from Yatching. Both Katya (IQ foil women) and Dayne (IQ foil men) were leading the standings going into the final day of competition off Dona Paula and were declared winners after it was clear that Wednesday’s races cannot take place due to lack of wind following a thunderstorm early morning.
Adhwait Menon won a silver medal in Men’s ILCA 4 category while Pearl Colvalcar clinched the bronze medal in women’s ILCA 4 event.
“It’s the first time that Goa is hosting the National Games and I am still shocked that we have won the gold. The best thing is that my brother won the gold as well. It feels amazing,” said Katya after bagging the gold medal.
“I had lot to prove at this National Games with my name being dropped from the Asian Games squad. This was my chance to prove that this is who I am and what I am capable of,” she added.
In the boxing arena at the Peddem sports complex, Mapusa, Goa registered their best ever performance in the history of the National Games and finished with three gold, three silver and four bronze medals. Sakshi Chaudhury (50kg), Rajat (71kg) and Gaurav Chouhan (92+kg) clinched the gold medals while the trio of Akash Gorkha (63.5kg), Lokesh (80kg) and Sanamacha Chanu (75kg) ended up with silver medals. Roshan Zamir (51kg), Sai Ayush (92kg) and Niharika (60kg) had earlier assured themselves
of a bronze medal to cap off a memorable outing for the contingent.
Two-time youth world champion Sakshi led the gold rush for the home side by registering a
convincing victory in the light flyweight category final over Malika of Madhya Pradesh. The pre-tournament favourite lived up to the billing by dominating all three rounds of the contest to walk away with the gold.
