Punjab dominate as three records fall

Hosts Punjab returned to the gold-grabbing business with a vengeance after two relatively lean days as three meet records were re-written on the eighth day of competition in the 31st National Games in Ludhiana on Tuesday.

Lifter Gurminder Singh was the toast of the Punjab contingent as he displayed his talent, setting two new meet records in the weightlifting event on an otherwise lacklustre day.

The day unfolded favourably for Punjab as they swept both the gold medals in the circle style kabbadi event and extended their domination in judo and weightlifting as well by doing the bulk of gold collection.

Services marked their return to the hockey scene by claiming the crown in the men's hockey event with a hard-fought solitary goal win over Karnataka.

Services, who had failed to make much of an impact at the last few National Games, were rewarded for their consistent show right through the championship which saw defending champions Punjab bite the dust in the semi-finals.

Last year's runners up Haryana avenged their defeat by registering a fluent 2-0 victory over defending champions Maharashtra to claim the coveted title in the women's hockey tournament. The day also saw the newly-formed Chhatisgarh state creating history at the Mohali shooting ranges by winning their first gold medal in the National Games, with Amardeep Singh Rai claiming the honour in the men's skeet individual event.

Delhi, who had swept all the four gold medals in the shooting events on Monday to make significant improvement in their position on the medals table, took home the other gold medal with their team winning the skeet event.

All the three meet records came from the weightlifting arena which saw Punjab's Gurminder Singh ruling the roost with two records in the 105 kg category.

Delhi's Bharti Singh also set a new meet record in the women's 75 kg category.

Hosts Punjab also made their presence felt on the opening day of judo events, being held in Anandpur Sahib, by securing two of the four gold medals on offer. Haryana and Manipur were the gold winners on the first day of the event.

Both the Punjab men's and women's hockey team, still licking their wounds after their premature exit, made amends to some extent, claiming the bronze medal by getting past their oppponents with convincing margins.

Defending champions Punjab blanked Bengal 3-0 in the play-off for the bronze medal in the men's section, while their women counterparts scripted a 4-3 victory over Chandigarh.