KITG 2026 Day 8: Talawar, Nagini clinch gold to extend Karnataka’s lead; Chhattisgarh add more medals to their tally

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Raipur, April 1 (IANS) Race walker Dasharath Talawar and middle-distance runner Nagini added two gold medals to table toppers Karnataka’s tally while Chhattisgarh’s Gajendra Thakur bagged a silver medal in the men’s 800m and their men’s hockey team clinched the bronze on Day 8 of the Khelo India Tribal Games (KITG) on Wednesday.

Dasharath Talawar led Karnataka’s 1-2 in the men’s 10km race walk with a time of 45:13.85s, with Darshan Bagadi (46:25.90s) finishing second ahead of Gujarat’s Sagarbhai Katara (48:16.09s) at the Kreeda Parisar athletics track in Jagdalpur.

Nagini then dominated the women’s 800m race to clinch the gold with a time of 2:13.80s to take Karnataka’s gold medal tally to 21. Karnataka has also bagged eight silver and seven bronze medals for an aggregate of 36 medals.

Chhattisgarh’s Gajendra Thakur claimed the men’s 800m silver medal with a time of 1:53.82s behind Munda, who clocked a time of 1:53.33s.

Thakur was obviously elated with his medal, as he had started training for athletics only over a year ago. “I had come for kabaddi trials at SAI Training Centre in Bilaspur, but seeing my fitness, the coaches advised me to go for track events, and I am happy to get my first national-level medal at home in the Khelo India Tribal Games,” he told SAI Media.

Earlier, Chhattisgarh’s men’s hockey team clinched the bronze medal by beating neighbouring Madhya Pradesh 14-6. The two medals took their tally to two gold, eight silver, and five bronze medals, and they are placed 10th in the overall standings.

With just one day of track and field competitions left, second-placed Odisha continued to chase the table toppers with four gold medals on Wednesday to take their overall tally to 17 gold, 10 silver, and 16 bronze medals.

Davanidhi Munda (men’s 800m), Roshan Khadia (men’s 400m hurdles), Dipa Kisan (women’s High Jump) and Dhanmati Xess (women’s javelin throw) clinched gold medals for Odisha on a day when Jharkhand also boosted their third position in the medal’s tally with two gold in women’s 400m hurdles and 10km race walk.

Jharkhand now have a total of 19 medals, including nine gold, three silver, and seven bronze medals.

In football, Chhattisgarh defeated Arunachal Pradesh 3-2 to book their final spot against West Bengal. Captain Akhilesh Kumar Uikey led from the front, scoring a brace for the hosts in the 34th and 66th minutes, with Manoj Kumar Lekam striking another goal in the 75th minute. Arunachal Pradesh were late bloomers and couldn’t catch up with the hosts as Rahul Goju Singpho brought them close to victory, scoring a double in the 81st and 86th minutes.

In the other semifinal, West Bengal trumped Goa 5-2 with Saurav Sabbar (27th minute), Dilip Oraon (36’), Bijay Murmu (42’), Rahul Murmu (45+1’), and Chaku Mandi (90+2’) finding the net at least once.

RESULTS

ATHLETICS

Women

400m hurdles: Shivani Kumar (Jharkhand) 1:02.06s; Silver – Adithya KM (Kerala) 1:04.60s; Bronze – Basanti Majhi (Odisha) 1:05.89s

800m: Gold – Nagini (Karnataka) 2:13.80s; Silver – Purnima Sandil (Odisha) 2:15.88s; Bronze – Shanti Bai (Madhya Pradesh) 2:19.11s

10km race walk: Gold – Neha Xalxo (Jharkhand) 1:04:02.46s; Silver – Alish Ekka (Odisha) 1:04:59.12s; Bronze – Bethlyne Makri (Meghalaya) 1:05:18.62s

High Jump: Gold – Dipa Kisan (Odisha) 1.45m; Silver – Kahima Basumatary (Assam) 1:45m; Bronze – Kabita Tadingi (Odisha) 1.43m

Javelin: Gold – Dhanmati Xess (Odisha) 44.79m; Silver – Sabita Murmu (Jharkhand) 43.12m; Bronze – Apiksha Gamit (Gujarat) 41.77m

Men

400m hurdles: Gold – Roshan Khadia (Odisha) 53.41s; Silver – Dnyaneshwar Vali (Maharashtra) 54.02s; Bronze – Manish Bedia (Jharkhand) 54.62s

800m: Gold – Davanidhi Munda (Odisha) 1:53.33s; Silver – Gajendra Thakur (Chhattisgarh) 1:53.82s; Bronze – Rahul Oraon (Jharkhand) 1:54.32s

10k race walk: Gold – Dasharath Talawar (Karnataka) 45:13.85s; Silver – Darshan Bagadi (Karnataka) 46:25.90s; Bronze – Sagarbhai Katara (Gujarat) 48:16.09s

FOOTBALL

Boys semifinals: West Bengal 5 (Saurav Sabbar 27’, Dilip Oraon 36’, Bikay Murumu 42’, Rahul Murmu 45+1’, Chaku Mandi 90+2’) defeated Goa 2 (Charles Miranda 84’, Pratamesh Damodar Gaonkar 90+4’)

Chhattisgarh 3 (Akhilesh Kumar Uikey 34’, 66’, Manoj Kumar Lekam 75’) defeated Arunachal Pradesh 2 (Rahul Goju Singpho 81’, 86’)

–IANS

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