The dynamic duo of swimming, Virdhawal, and Rujuta Khade, hailing from Maharashtra, demonstrated their remarkable talents by setting new records at the 37th National Games held at the Campal Swimming Pool on Tuesday. Virdhawal, the 2010 Asian Games bronze medalist, claimed the gold medal in the men’s 50m freestyle event, outpacing the latest sensation in Indian swimming, Srihari Nataraj of Karnataka. Virdhawal achieved this feat with an impressive timing of 22.82 seconds, securing the gold. Srihari Nataraj clinched the silver medal with a timing of 22.91 seconds, while Maharashtra’s Mihir Ambre took the bronze with a time of 22.99 seconds, according to an official statement from the National Games.
In the final race of the day, Rujuta also shone, setting a new Games record to seize the gold in the women’s 50m freestyle event with a time of 26.42 seconds. She led the pack, leaving Assam’s Shivangi Sharma (26.80 seconds) and West Bengal’s Janhvi Choudhary (26.89 seconds) in her wake, securing the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Rujuta expressed her joy at the shared achievement, saying, “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.”
With their outstanding performances, Maharashtra continued their dominance in the games, increasing their medal count to 123 in total, including 52 Gold, 35 Silver, and 36 Bronze. Meanwhile, the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) surged ahead of Haryana in the medal tally, securing 19 gold medals compared to Haryana’s 18 gold medals.
In athletics, the competitions experienced delays due to heavy rainfall, with the 4x100m Women’s relay being the last event before the pause. Notably, Jyoti Yarraji led Andhra Pradesh to gold, while Kerala and Karnataka claimed silver and bronze medals, respectively.
After the resumption of the competition, Tejaswin Shankar, the Asian Games Silver medalist representing Delhi, set a new National Games record, clinching the gold in the Decathlon event with a total of 7199 points. He was followed by Rohit Roman of SSCB, who secured the silver with 6794 points, and N. Thowfeeq of Kerala, who claimed the bronze with 6755 points.
Tamil Nadu celebrated victory in the 4x100m Men’s relay, clocking in at 40.05 seconds, while Odisha took the silver, and Kerala secured the bronze.
In Taekwondo, Maharashtra and Gujarat each bagged two gold medals out of the five that were awarded, with SSCB securing the remaining gold medals.
Furthermore, the games featured exciting developments in football and tennis. West Bengal and Manipur secured their places in the women’s football semi-finals, while in men’s football, Kerala held Maharashtra to a draw, and Manipur narrowly defeated Meghalaya. Tennis saw Gujarat and Maharashtra triumph in the women’s team semi-finals, and Karnataka prevailed in the men’s team semi-finals.
Water polo matches exhibited impressive performances by Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala in both the men’s and women’s categories. In diving, Ningthoujam Willson Singh of SSCB secured the gold in the men’s platform event, with Sourav Debnath of SSCB earning silver, and Tushar Gitaye of Maharashtra taking the bronze.
