Richa, Khade continue their gold rush at Natl Games

Ranchi/ Jamshedpur: Swimmer Richa Mishra grabbed up two more gold medals to make it 11 in total as she remained on course to topple Nisha Millet`s 12-year-old feat,after sixth day of the 34th National Games, here on Friday.

Maharashtra led the medals tally with 28 gold, 30 silver and 27 bronze medals. Maintaining the pole position has been possible due to brilliant efforts from swimming superstar Vir Dhawal Khade and world champion markswoman Tejaswini Sawant both of whom won couple of gold medals each. Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) did well in shooting to retain the second spot with their tally reading 24-20-18, as Delhi powered by Richa`s performance improved their gold count to 22 along with 13 silver and 15 bronze medals to remain on third place. Nisha Millet`s Manipur National Games (1999) feat of 11 individual gold seemed to be in danger as Richa 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 of Ranchi. 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 to conclude her campaign on Saturday. Asian Games bronze medalist Khade shattered two records en route his double gold in the 200m IM and 50m backstroke. Khade`s gold tally has moved upto seven along with two silver and two bronze medals. Rising star from Karnataka, 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 Richa. In men`s waterpolo, Kerala beat Bengal 9-3 to set up a final clash against 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 routed Karnataka 10-0. In shooting, Tejaswini clinched a fourth gold to conclude a brilliant campaign as Tikait Umrao Shooting Range in Mega Sports Complex of Ranchi witnessed one 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 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 clinching the gold. 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 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 making semifinal exits. The women`s bronze medals were won by Maharashtra and Bengal. 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. PTI