Mishra rules the pool as Maharashtra leads tally

Swimmer Richa Mishra bagged two more gold medals to consolidate her medals tally to 11 and is now just one short of bettering Nisha Millet`s 12-year-old record,on Friday.

Ranchi: Swimmer Richa Mishra bagged two more gold medals to consolidate her medals tally to 11 and is now just one short of bettering Nisha Millet`s 12-year-old record, after the sixth day of the 34th National Games here on Friday.

Maharashtra led the medals tally with 28 gold, 30 silver and 27 bronze medals, and a lot of credit for that should go to the efforts of swimmers Virdhawal Khade and world champion markswoman Tejaswini Sawant -- both winning two gold medals. Services (SSCB) rode on their shooters to retain the second spot with their tally reading 24-20-19, while Delhi, powered by Mishra`s performance, improved their gold count to 22 along with 14 silver and 16 bronze medals to remain on third place. Millet`s feat of 11 individual gold in the 1999 Manipur National Games seemed to be in danger as Mishra continued her superb run to bag two gold in the 400m freestyle and 200m individual medley at the Veer Budhu Bhagat Aquatic Stadium in Mega Sports Complex here. Nisha had won a total of 14 titles there, with three coming from relays beside a silver medal. Richa, who now has 11 gold, two silver and bronze, will compete in two more events on Saturday.Asian Games bronze medalist Khade shattered two records en route to his double gold in the 200m IM and 50m backstroke. Khade`s gold tally has moved to seven along with two silver and two bronze medals. Karnataka`s Gagan AP bagged one gold with record timing to make it six gold and two bronze for him, while the day`s other record in swimming belonged to none other than Mishra. In men`s waterpolo, Kerala beat Bengal 9-3 to set up a final clash with Services, who got the better of Maharashtra 9-3 in the other half. Delhi pipped Maharashtra 6-5 in the women`s waterpolo semifinal to set up a final date with Kerala, who thrashed Karnataka 10-0. Athletics, too, saw new meet records with Asian junior champion Harvinder Singh Dagar winning the hammer throw. The second record belonged to Priyanka Singh Patel who bettered the mark of Asian Games gold medalist Sudha Singh -- she did not start, despite her name figuring in the list. Tamil Nadu ruled the roost in squash competition in Dhanbad winning the gold and silver in both the men`s and women`s events. In the finals, Harinder Pal Sandhu beat statemate Ravi Dixit 3-1 for the men`s singles title, while in the women`s singles, Aparajitha Balamurukan made a brilliant comeback to defeat compatriots Anwesha Reddy Vangala 3-2. In shooting, Tejaswini clinched a fourth gold to conclude a brilliant campaign as the Tikait Umrao Shooting Range in Mega Sports Complex here witnessed a record by Annu Raj Singh.Having already pocketed the individual and team gold in 50m rifle prone, the Maharashtra shooter was not at her best in the 50m rifle three positions, but the score of 672.6 was enough to earn her third yellow metal. Annu Raj Singh broke Sonia Rai`s four-year-old record en route to the gold in the 25m women`s pistol event. Mritunjoy Singh Rathore of Madhya Pradesh clinched the individual dressage title in the equestrian competition at the Gopal Maidan in Jamshedpur. In athletics, Tamil Nadu`s Jayakumar Surender and M M Anchu of Kerala notched their personal best timings to clinch the 110m men`s and 100m women`s hurdles as the 20km walk was won by Jharkhand`s Mala Devi. A day after Jharkhand`s Gurmit Singh clinched the men`s title, Mala clinched the women`s 20km walk to give the hosts more than a reason to celebrate. Riding on a fine show by star cyclist Ch Rameshwori Devi, Manipur clinched the women`s 1500m team trial while Punjab bagged the men`s 1500m TT as the cycling competition got underway at the Sidho Kanhu Velodrome Stadium in Mega sports complex. Punjab`s quartet of Hitraj Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Sapreet Singh and Amrit Singh had an effort of 1:46.596 for the men`s 1500m TT gold while Services won the silver and Jharkhand the bronze. Kerala clinched both the men`s and women`s badminton titles at the Thakur Vishwanath Shahdeo Indoor Stadium in Mega Sports Complex. The men`s team had to face a stiff challenge from Andhra before wrapping the issue 3-2, while the women did not break much sweat in beating Andhra Pradesh 2-1. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh won the bronze medals in the men`s badminton. The women`s bronze medals were won by Maharashtra and Bengal. The presence of Commonwealth Games gold medalist Ashish Kumar mattered little to Uttar Pradesh who lost by four points to Services to settle for silver as Andhra took the bronze medal in the men`s team event of the artistics gymnastics. Orissa humiliated Bengal 6-0, while Manipur blanked Tamil Nadu 2-0 to make the women`s football final, which incidentally will be a repeat of last edition`s final in Guwahati four years ago. The summit clash will be held tomorrow at the JRD Tata Sports complex. Haryana hammered Assam 17-0 to virtually book a semifinal berth in the women`s hockey, while hosts Jharkhand with two wins are also on course for a last-four berth. PTI