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Journalism of Courage
Punjab, who started with a flourish in either half, won the National Games men’s hockey gold after vanquishing Maharashtra 3-1.
Haryana women, with a scintillating performance in the second half that included a brace each by Jasjeet and Mamta Kharab, successfully retained the title while putting it across Jharkhand 4-0.
Punjab opened their tally in the sixth minute when Kanwalpreet Singh successfully converted the first penalty corner that came their way. Punjab made it 2-0 in the very first minute of the second half when Ajit Pal Singh struck. Maharashtra, who missed quite a few chances, converted their third penalty corner when Girish Pinpale made no mistake. But Punjab struck through Gagan Ajit Singh in the 49th minute to help the team consolidate their position at 3-1.
Sania beats Manisha for title
Local girl Sania Mirza won the singles gold in tennis beating Andhra Pradesh representative manisha Malhotra 6-0, 6-0 in the final at the 32nd National Games here today. Karnataka’s Archana Venkatraman and Maharashtra’s Sonal Phadke won the bronze.
Top seed upset in semis
Top seed S Raman of Tamil nadu crashed out, losing in a seven-set semi-finals as Bengal added another gold to their kitty in the table tennis competition. The mixed doubles pair of Mouma Das and Sourav Chakravarthy easily defeated the state mates Anandita Chakraborthy and Shibaji Dutta in four sets at 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 to lift the mixed doubles crown.
Karnataka extend reign
Despite importing some of the best swimmers from across the country, hosts Andhra Pradesh could not topple Karnataka as they staved off a stiff challenge from Andhra and topped the medal tally with a haul of 16 golds, 18 silvers and 15 brones. Andhra finished second with a medal tally of 14 golds, ten silvers and eight bronzes. Bangalore teenager Shikha Tandon ended with a rich haul of nine golds, including three in relays, three silver and two bronze.
Manisha, Neha win golds
Manisha of Andhra Pradesh and Neha Rathi of Haryana won golds in the wrestling competitions while in the men’s section Rajiv Dhariya of Haryana, Sushil Kumar of Delhi and Alkatomar of Andhra Pradesh also won their fights for golds. In the women’s 63 kg, Manisha overcame Haryana’s Poonam Banal in the final and in the 51 kg category, S Neha Rathi outplayed Renu Balaof Punjab for the gold.
Samresh, Manavjit shine
Samresh Jung of Andhra Pradesh and Manavjit Singh Sandhu of Punjab shot a gold each another gold to make it a double in the shooting event. Jung, who had won the 10m Air Pistol earlier, returned with 650.3 for a gold in 50m pistol event. The team event gold went to Services. Earlier, Manavjit who had won the trap event, added one more with a score of 144 to establish the games record in the skeet event. His effort erased the mark of 137 set by H S Bedi in 1997 Games in Bangalore.
Soccer gold for Manipur women
Holders Manipur successfully defended their title edging past Bengal 1-0 in the final of women’s football. Shanti Devi found the target for Manipur who held territorial sway for most part of the 90-minute exchange. Orissa coasted to a 4-0 win over hosts Andhra Pradesh in the bronze medal playoff earlier in the day. Lethal striker Sradhanjali Smanta Rai slotted home a brace while Sunita Soreng and Pinky Bompal Nagar scored one apiece for Orissa.
