National Games: Wushu ace Abhishek Jamwal wins Jammu and Kashmir's first gold medal

It was third time lucky for Abhishek Jamwal as he won Jammu and Kashmir's first gold medal in the 36th National Games when he stopped Mayank Mahajan (Punjab) in the Wushu Sanda 56kg class final at the Mahatma Mandir Complex here on Tuesday.

Ladakh broke their duck and got to the medal table with two bronze medals in Wushu today. Owais Sarwar Ahengar (65kg class and Pratham Singh (75kg class) were the two medallists for the squad from Union Territory competing in the National Games for the first time.

Services added three gold to their collection and remain on top of the charts with 56 gold, 34 silver and 30 bronze medals. Haryana could have equalled Maharashtra's 36 gold so far but two of their Wushu artists lost their respective finals.

There was a dramatic Triathlon Mixed Relay silver for hosts Gujarat. Teenager Krishiv Hitesh Patel braved a broken toe to complete his cycling and running legs to keep Gujarat in the race. Siblings Monika Nagpure and Karan Nagpure moved Gujarat from the eighth place before an inspired Pragnya Mohan made light of a 2 minute 44 second gap to lift the team to silver.

But it was Abhishek Jamwal, who had plenty to cheer in the morning session. Having lost in the quarterfinal stage in the last two National Championships, he had moved to 56kg category with an eye on next year's Asian Games and was determined to go back from here with only the gold medal.

He is now hoping that the success will lead him to better things in life, including helping him find a job.

Though Asian Games bronze medalist Naorem Roshibina Devi (Manipur) asserted her superiority over Ritu (Haryana) in the women's Sanda 60kg class final, Abhishek Jamwal's aura lingered strongly at the venue. "I am pleased that I recovered from a recent shin bone injury to be able to gift the medal to my coach, Dronacharya Kuldeep Handoo sir," he said.

An erstwhile kickboxer, Kuldeep Handoo acquired a coaching certificate from the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, to be able to impart free Wushu training to youngsters in Jammu. "I am proud that I have helped our contingent from the Union Territory to return with at least one gold medal," he said.

The results (finals):

Canoeing and Kayaking
Men
K1 Sprint 200m: 1. Vishnu Reghunath (Services) 39.172 seconds; 2. Tomthilnganba Ngashepam (Odisha) 39.888; 3. Nitin Verma (Madhya Pradesh) 40.628.
Women
C1 Sprint 200m: 1. Megha Pradeep (Kerala) 52.213 seconds; 2. Leichonbam Neha Devi (Odisha) 55.150; 3. Shivani (Uttar Pradesh) 55.210.
K1 Sprint 200m: 1. G Parvathy (Kerala) 49.167 seconds; 2. Oinam Bindya Devi (Odisha) 49.723; 3. Rajina Kiro (Andaman and Nicobar) 49.917.

Football
Men's Bronze medal play-off: Services beat Karnataka 4-0 (Half-time: 3-0).

Hockey
Men's Bronze medal play-off: Maharashtra beat Haryana 2-2 (Half-time: 0-1), 3-1 in penalty shoot-out.
Women's Bronze medal play-off: Madhya Pradesh beat Jharkhand 5-2 (Half-time: 2-0).

Softball
Men
Final (qualifying for Grand Final): Maharashtra beat Andhra Pradesh 3-0.
Women
Grand Final: Punjab beat Kerala. Final (qualifying for Grand Final): Kerala beat Chhattisgarh 2-1.

Triathlon
Mixed Team Relay: 1. Akash Perumalsamy, S Keerthi, S Vaman and S Aarthi (Tamil Nadu) 1:59:00; 2. Krishiv Hitesh Patel, Monika Nagpure, Karan Nagpure and Pragnya Mohan (Gujarat) 1:59:41; 3. Kshetrimayum Kabidash Singh, Thoudam Saojini, Bijenkumar Laikhuram and Kshetrimayum Sonam Devi (Manipur) 2:00:24.

Wushu
Changquan
Men: 1. Anjul Namdeo (Services) 9.55 points; 2. Salam Marshal Singh (Manipur) 9.50; 3. Sumit Pulami (Delhi) 9.10.

Women: 1. Nyeman Wangshu (Arunachal Pradesh) 9.20 points; 2. Poorvi Soni (Madhya Pradesh) 8.50; 3. Sakshi Jatav (Madhya Pradesh) 8.36.
Sanda
56kg class: Abhishek Jamwal (Jammu and Kashmir) beat Mayank Mahajan (Punjab); Bronze medals: Omkar Anil Pawar (Maharashtra) and Apil Nagar (Uttar Pradesh).
60kg class: Ravi Panchal (Haryana) beat Vicky Rai (Services); Bronze medals: Sanket Shahaji Patil (Maharashtra) and Thangjam Naocha Metei (Manipur).
65kg class: Vikrant Baliyan (Services) beat Sachin (Haryana). Bronze medals: Ishant Singh (Jammu and Kashmir) and Owais Sarwar Ahengar (Ladakh).
70 kg class: Suraj Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) beat Abhijeet Slathia (Jammu and Kashmir). Bronze medals: Shubham Gora (Rajasthan) and Ramu Daimary (Services).
75kg class: Mukesh Choudhary (Rajasthan) beat Haobijam Gagarin Singh (Manipur). Bronze medals: Pratham Singh (Ladakh) and Pankaj Raina (Jammu and Kashmir).

Women
52kg class: Onilu Tega (Arunachal Pradesh) beat Namrata Batra (Madhya Pradesh). Bronze medals: Bharti Kumari (Delhi) and Jahanvi Mehra (Rajasthan).
60kg class: Naorem Roshibina Devi (Manipur) beat Ritu (Haryana). Bronze medals: Nikita Bansal (Rjasthan) and Prerna (Delhi).

Other result
Volleyball (semifinals)
Women: West Bengal beat Rajasthan 25-14, 25-21, 25-18; Kerala beat Himachal Pradesh 25-20, 25-14, 25-19.