Manipur archers on target

The Manipur archers gave ample display of their class, collecting the bulk of gold medals in the event but hosts Punjab showed no signs of slackening their grip as they continued to top the medals table on the ninth day of competition in the 31st National Games in Ludhiana on Wednesday.

The highly-talented L Suni Devi of Manipur was the cynosure of all eyes on an otherwise lacklustre day as she scooped two gold medals in the archery event to help her team improve its position on the medals table.

Suni Devi's accuracy and concentration fetched her the coveted gold medal in the women's individual round with a total of 577 points and she maintained the same form to guide Manipur to the women's team title also.

The day turned out to be quite a fruitful one for Manipur as they not only dominated the archery arena but made their presence felt in judo too where they shared honours with Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

The strong Maharashtra team comprising Sandeep Kirtane, Ajay Ramaswami and Nitin Kirtane regained the men's team championship title in tennis with a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Delhi.

But their women counterparts, who had won the team championship gold in the Imphal National Games, were not quite as lucky as they succumbed to their main challengers Tamil Nadu 1-2 in a keenly contested tussle.

The women's football event being held in Jalandhar saw the script unfold on expected lines as both defending champions Manipur and hosts Punjab romped into the final.

Manipur showed little mercy as they defeated last year's runners-up Bengal with an emphatic 3-1 margin to keep themselves on course for retaining the women's football title.

The other semi-final match between Punjab and Bihar was more evenly contested before substitute forward Rashpal Kaur produced the 'golden goal' in the eighth minute of extra-time to give the hosts a solitary goal victory.

Both the teams played their hearts out but failed to break the deadlock until Rashpal Kaur came to the rescue of Punjab with a brilliant effort much to the delight of her teammates.

Services pugilists dominated the ring picking up four of the 12 gold medals while hosts Punjab and Haryana added three gold each in their kitty. Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh were the other gold winners in boxing.

International Ramanand was the pick of the Services boxers as he kept his reputation intact by bagging the gold medal in the light weight category with a 15-6 victory over Manipur's Dhanvir.

Another star pugilist Harpal Singh of Punjab brought cheer for the home contingent by winning the gold medal in the heavy weight category with a victory against Jatinder Kumar of Services.