Swimming power couple Virdhawal and Rujuta Khade of Maharashtra broke the Games records on the way to be adjudged as the fastest swimmers of the ongoing 2023 National Games in Goa.

Virdhawal, the 2010 Asian Games bronze medallist, pipped the latest Indian swimming sensation Srihari Nataraj of Karnataka for the gold with a timing of 22.82s in men’s 50m freestyle. Nataraj stopped the clock at 22.91s for the silver, while Maharashtra’s Mihir Ambre took the bronze with a time of 22.99s.

In the last race of the day, Rujuta made it a reason for a double celebration for the family as she improved on the Games record to win the 50m women’s freestyle gold with a time of 26.42s. Shivangi Sharma (26.80s) of Assam and Janhvi Choudhary (26.89s) of West Bengal took home the silver and bronze medals respectively.

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“It is very special for the both of us. We’ve been winning this event together since 2019, but every time it feels just as special as the first time. Here today, winning the medal feels great, but setting the National Games record together makes it even more special for the both of us,” said Rujuta after the race.

Maharashtra continued their dominance at the Games increasing their total tally to 123 medals with 52 gold, 35 silver and 36 bronze. Services, who have 19 gold medals leaped ahead of Haryana in the medal tally by securing one gold more than Haryana, who ended the day on 18 gold medals.

The athletics competitions were delayed due to heavy rainfall after the completion of 4x100m women’s relay. Asian Games medallist Jyoti Yarraji anchored Andhra Pradesh to gold ahead of Kerala and Karnataka, who won silver and bronze respectively.

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After the resumption of the competition, Asian Games silver medallist Tejaswin Shankar, representing Delhi clinched, the gold medal in decathlon with a new National Games record completing the two day event with a total of 7199 points.

Rohit Roman of Services won the silver with 6794 points while N. Thowfeeq of Kerala won the bronze with 6755 points.

Tamil Nadu clinched the gold in the 4x100m men’s relay with a timing of 40.05s ahead of Odisha, who won the silver and Kerala, who won the bronze.

In Taekwondo, Maharashtra and Gujarat won two gold medals each out of the five which were decided. Services secured the other gold.

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At Tilak Maidan in Vasco, West Bengal and Manipur booked their places in the semi-finals from Pool A of women’s football. West Bengal edged out Jharkhand 3-2 in the final group match while Manipur got the better of Tamil Nadu 2-0 to confirm their places in the semis.

In men’s football, Maharashtra held last edition’s silver medallists Kerala to a 2-2 draw while Manipur edged past Santhosh Trophy runners up Meghalaya 2-1 in Pool A.

Important Results:

Athletics

Decathlon

Gold – Tejaswin Shankar (Delhi) – 7199 points (NGR)

Silver – Rohit Roman (SSCB) – 6794 points

Bronze – N. Thowfeeq (Kerala) – 6755 points

4x100m Relay Women

Gold – Andhra Pradesh – 45.61s

(Chelemi Pratyusha, Bhavani Yadav, L. Madhu Kavya Reddy, Jyothi Yarraji)

Silver – Kerala – 46.02s

(V. Neha, Remaya Rajan, P.D Anjali, A.P Shilbi)

Bronze – Karnataka – 46.22s

(Medha Kamath, C. Anjali, T. Daneshwari, S.S Sneha)

4x100m Relay Men

Gold – Tamil Nadu – 40.05s

(S. Tamil Arasu, R. Sai Siddharth, V.K Elakkiyadasan, Kathiravan)

Silver – Odisha – 40.13s

(Mruty Dondapati, Aryan Ekka, Lalu Prasad Bhoi, Amiya Kumar Mallick)

Bronze – Kerala – 40.14s

(D.B Bibin, Muhammed Shan, C.V Anurag, T. Midhun)

Javelin Throw

Gold – Shilpa Rani (Haryana) – 54.82m

Silver – Priyanka Singh (Haryana) – 53.75m

Bronze – Rashmi K.Shetty (Andhra Pradesh) – 52.55m

Swimming

50m Freestyle Men

Gold – Virdhawal Khade (Maharashtra) – 22.82s (NGR)

Silver – Srihari Nataraj (Karnataka) – 22.91s

Bronze – Mihir Ambre (Mahrashtra) – 22.99s

50m Freestyle Women

Gold – Rujuta Khade (Maharashtra) – 26.42s (NGR)

Silver – Shivangi Sharma (Assam) – 26.80s

Bronze – Janhvi Choudhary (West Bengal) – 26.89s

400m Individual Medley Men

Gold – Shoan Ganguly (Karnataka) – 4:28.09s (NGR)

Silver – Advait Page (Madhya Pradesh) – 4:28.20s

Bronze – Sajan Prakash (Kerala) – 4:32.18s

200m Backstroke Men

Gold – Nithik Nathella (Tamil Nadu) – 2:03.32s (NGR)

Silver – Rishabh Das (Maharashtra) – 2:04.80s

Bronze – Advait Page (Madhya Pradesh) – 1:05.79s

200m Backstroke Women

Gold – Palak Joshi (Maharashtra) – 2:22.12s

Silver – Soubrity Mondal (West Bengal) – 2:22.39s

Bronze – Karnataka – Sanjana Prabhugaonker (Goa) – 2:23.64s

400m Medley Women

Gold – S. Lakshya (Karnataka) – 5:12.27s

Silver – Hashika Ramachandra (Karnataka) -5:13.42s

Bronze – Shrungi Bandekar (Goa) – 5:13.69s

Taekwondo

Men’s Individual Poomsae

Gold – Laishram Dingku Singh (SSCB)

Silver – Lalthlamuanpuia (Mizoram) 

Bronze – Miching Taja (Arunachal Pradesh)

Vansh Prem Singh Thakur (Maharashtra)

Women’s Individual Poomsae

Gold – Mrunali S. Harnekar (Maharashtra)

Silver – Laya Fathima C.K (Kerala)

Bronze – Rikpy Nyodu (Arunachal Pradesh) 

Umelly Mangshatabam (Manipur)

Women’s Under 46kg

Gold – Twisha Kakadiya (Gujarat)

Silver – Sakshi Patil (Maharashtra)

Bronze – Parsida N.C (Kerala)

Naoroibam Jina Devi (Manipur)

Men’s Under 54kg

Gold – Abhijeet Khopade (Maharashtra)

Silver – Nirman Rupam Kashyap (Assam)

Bronze – Om Lal Sah (Uttarakhand)

Vikash (Haryana)

Men’s Under 87kg

Gold - Jay Nilesh Kimayagar (Gujarat)

Silver – Manjeet Singh (Rajasthan)

Bronze – Sudhir Chauhan (Nagaland)

Pramod Joshi (SSCB)

Hockey

Women

Pool A: Manipur bt Tamil Nadu – 4-0

Pool B: Punjab bt Karnataka – 4-1; Mahrashtra bt Goa – 2-1

Men

Pool A: Haryana drew Odisha – 3-3

Pool B: Jharkhand drew Uttar Pradesh – 4-4; Tamil Nadu bt Goa – 6-3

Women’s Football

Pool A: West Bengal bt Jharkhand – 3-2; Manipur bt Tamil Nadu – 2-0

Men’s Football

Pool A: Kerala drew Maharashtra – 2-2; Manipur bt Meghalaya – 2-1

Men’s Beach Football

Semi-Finals: Kerala bt Punjab – 11-3; Goa bt Lakshadweep - 7-5

Tennis

Women’s Team Semi-Finals

Gujarat bt Telangana – 2-0

Maharashtra bt Tamil Nadu – 2-0

Men’s Team Semi-Finals

Karnataka bt Uttar Pradesh – 2-1

Water Polo

Group Stage Matches

Women

Maharashtra bt Assam – 25-1

Karnataka bt Manipur – 20-6

Men

Maharashtra bt Manipur – 28-3

Kerala bt Karnataka – 18-1

Diving

Platform Men

Gold – Ningthoujam Willson Singh (SSCB)

Silver – Sourav Debnath (SSCB)

Bronze – Tushar Gitaye (Maharashtra)