Dhinidhi Desinghu Wins Fifth Gold Medal as Services Ascend to Top of National Games Medal Tally

Karnataka's 14-year-old swimming prodigy, Dhinidhi Desinghu, secured her fifth gold medal at the 38th National Games. Her latest victory came in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay. Karnataka dominated the swimming events in Haldwani, achieving three gold medals on Saturday. Meanwhile, Services surged to the top of the medal tally, overtaking Manipur with eight medals, including five golds.

Services now lead with a total of 26 medals: 14 gold, 7 silver, and 5 bronze. They were second on Friday with 19 medals. Karnataka follows closely with 23 medals: 13 gold, 5 silver, and 5 bronze. Defending champions Maharashtra are third with 41 medals: 11 gold, 18 silver, and 12 bronze. Manipur has slipped to fourth place with 24 medals: 11 gold, 9 silver, and 4 bronze.

Swimming Success for Karnataka

Dhinidhi Desinghu played a crucial role in Karnataka's success by anchoring the women's relay team to victory in a time of 8 minutes and 54.87 seconds. Her teammates included Shirin, Shalini R Dixit, and Meenakshi Menon. Gujarat secured silver with a time of 7:49.71, while Maharashtra took bronze at 7:55.62.

Earlier in the week, Dhinidhi had already claimed gold in several events: women's 200m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay, and the 50m freestyle. Paris Olympian Srihari Nataraj led Karnataka to another gold in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay with a time of 7:45.82. The team included Dhakshan S, Shoan Ganguly, and Aneesh S Gowda.

Other Notable Performances

Vidith S Shankar added to Karnataka's medal haul by winning the men's 50m breaststroke in 29.12 seconds. Kerala's Harshitha Jayaram clinched the women's equivalent in 34.14 seconds. Sajan Prakash from Kerala won the men's 200m butterfly with an impressive time of 2:01.40. In the women's event, Maharashtra's Dhirti Ahirwal emerged victorious with a time of 2:23.80.

At the shooting range in Dehradun, Punjab's Arjun Babuta and Ojasvi Thakur showcased their skills to win the mixed team gold medal in the 10m air rifle event. They defeated Maharashtra's Arya Borse and Rudrankksh Patil with a score of 16-12 in a tense final match.

Shooting and Kho Kho Highlights

The Punjab duo sealed their victory with a final shot score of 21.4 against Maharashtra's score of 21.0. In the bronze medal match, West Bengal's Abhinav Shaw and Ismita Bhowal outperformed Gujarat with a score of 17-11.

"It feels absolutely amazing to win gold for our state," said Ojasvi Thakur after their triumph. Arjun Babuta added that they focused on individual performances to achieve maximum points during their competition.

Maharashtra excelled in kho kho by winning both men's and women's gold medals at the National Games. Odisha secured silver in both categories as well. In the men's final, Maharashtra defeated Odisha by a score of 32-26; their women counterparts won against Odisha with a score of 31-28.

Weightlifting Achievements

The men's bronze medal match saw West Bengal and Kerala tied after regulation time; both teams were awarded bronze following sudden death play-off results. Similarly, Delhi and Karnataka shared bronze in the women's category after an extended match.

In weightlifting events, Punjab claimed two golds along with two silvers and one bronze medal while Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Services each secured one gold medal apiece.