Haryana and Services have begun to establish early supremacy at the 37th National Games Goa 2023. Maharashtra have been a dominant force in gymnastics. Hosts Goa meanwhile finished fourth in women’s rhythmic gymnastic competition at Peddem sports complex, and again fell short of winning their first medal.
There was a heartbreak in store for the hosts in men’s basketball, as Goa lost 99-71 against Punjab in a must-win clash in Pool A. Having beaten Telangana in their second group clash, Goa had a chance to qualify for the semifinals if they could beat the last edition’s runners-up Punjab. Jeshua Pinto (19 points) and Gaurav Chandel (18 points) once again did the heavy lifting for the hosts but they were no match to Punjab’s Kanwar Gurbaz Sandhu’s effort of 30 points that included seven threepointers. Amirtpal Singh and Sahaij Pratap Shekhon also chipped in with 21 points each as Punjab topped the group with three wins, followed by Delhi, who defeated Telangana 115-60 in their last group clash.
Haryana bagged both the gold medals in Netball traditional format, at the Indoor stadium, Campal. The men’s team beat Kerala 45-42 in a tightly fought final, while the women got the better of Karnataka 58-52.
Maharashtra grabbed the gold medal in gymnastics with a total of 242 points while Jammu and Kashmir bagged the silver medal with a score of 189.60. The hosts, who are participating in the event for the first time at the National Games, scored a total of 173.75 points, finishing 14 points behind bronze winners Haryana. In the men’s trampoline event, Sudipta Sardar finished sixth with a score of 41.22 points. Maharashtra clinched the gold and bronze medals through Adarsh Bhoir and Ayush Muley respectively with Manu Murali of Services bagging the silver medal.
There were four National Records scripted in weightlifting today. Maharashtra’s Dipali Gursale (45kg, combined lift 165kg) , Prashant Koli of Services Sports Control Board (55kg), Chandrika Tarafdar of West Bengal (45kg, jerk 95kg) and Phandom Ranibala Devi of Manipur (55kg) established the new mark in respective weight category.
Over in 61kg event, defending champion Charu Pesi of Services won the gold medal with a combined lift of 267kg. Assam’s Sidhanta Gogoi (266kg) made a late surge but couldn’t overtake Pesi and settled for a silver medal. Shubham Todkar of Maharashtra registered a combined lift of 263kg for a bronze medal.
In the Women’s 49 Kg category, Gyaneshwari Yadav clinched the gold lifting a total of 177 Kg. Preeti of Haryana secured silver with a total of 174 Kg while former Asian Champion in the 45 Kg, Jhilli Dalbehera finished with a bronze medal, lifting 167 Kg.
Over in Rugby 7s, Goa men and women were handed a masterclass by defending champion Haryana and Odisha respectively.
Odisha routed Goa 52-0 in the opening game for the women’s team before the mighty Haryana men blanked the hosts 31-0 at the picturesque Athletics Stadium here today morning.
Speaking after the match to @LiveNewsGoaTV, Goa coach Gautam Dagar stated that the players tried their best. “Goa players played to the best of their ability. They followed the technical and tactical aspects that were discussed in the camp leading to the National Games. They did everything that was expected on the field like the structure of play. We also missed a couple of good players due to injuries. This was going to be a tough match as Haryana are the top seeds,” said the former India player -turned-coach.
