Raipur, March 26 (IANS) Swimmer Manikanta L. single-handedly kept Karnataka at the top of the medals table as he grabbed three more gold medals on Thursday to take his individual gold tally to five while Odisha’s Anjali Munda completed a hat-trick of gold medals in the swimming competition on the second day of the Khelo India Tribal Games (KITG) 2026 in Raipur on Thursday.

There was also a reason for hosts Chhattisgarh to rejoice as local hope Anushka Bhagat added a second silver to her tally by finishing second in the women’s 200m individual medley race. Anushka had won the 100m breaststroke silver on Wednesday.

At the end of Day 2, Karnataka topped the medals chart with eight gold, three silver, and one bronze, while Odisha were close second with five gold medals, one silver, and eight bronze medals. Assam are third with five medals (two gold), while Chhattisgarh are lying sixth with three medals (two silvers and a bronze).

In all, 30 states and Union Territories are participating in the inaugural edition of the Khelo India Tribal Games 2026, which is witnessing close to 3800 participants compete in nine sports disciplines. A whopping 106 gold medals will be on offer across archery, athletics, football, hockey, swimming, weightlifting, and wrestling, while traditional sports like Mallakhamb and Kabaddi will be demonstration sports.

While there were many stunning performances in the swimming pool on Thursday, Manikanta was the runaway star as he has won every race he has competed in so far. The Karnataka swimmer, who had won the 100m Breaststroke and 50m Butterfly gold on Wednesday, began the day by winning the 200m Individual Medley with a time of 2:25.93s, returned a few minutes later to stop the clock 1:07.94s in the 100m Backstroke final and then swam the anchor leg for Karnataka’s 4x100m relay team to make it five gold medals.

“I am very happy that all the hard work I have put in over the years is coming to fruition here. I am happy that I have won five gold medals so far, but I am competing in a total of nine events, and I am aiming to win gold in all nine,” said Manikanta, who trains at the Basvangudi Aquatic Centre under coach Rajeev.

Odisha won all three gold medals on offer in women’s swimming events, with Anjali adding two. Anjali Munda, who had won the 200m freestyle gold on Wednesday, first clinched the women’s 200m IM gold with a time of 2:53.82s, with Chhattisgarh’s Anushka Bhagat winning the silver with a time of 2:59.33s. The bronze medal went to Anjali Mallick of Odisha (3:06.13s).

Anjali then added the 100m backstroke crown to her tally with a time of 1:19.98s, with Karnataka’s Nidhi S taking the silver medal with a time of 1:26.18s.

Though Anjali did not represent her state in the 4x100 relay, the quartet of Ritika Minz, Krushna Nayak, Rupali Hembram, and Subhasmita Baipai clocked a time of 5:06.12s to beat Gujarat (5:54.37s) and Karnataka (6:29.69s) for the gold medal.

Odisha’s fourth gold medal of the day came from the weightlifting hall, where former Asian Championships gold medallist Jhilli Dalabehera took the top spot against Kiuchangliu Gangmei of Manipur due to her lower body weight after both players had lifted an identical aggregate of 160kg.

Earlier, Assam’s Monikha Sonowal and Mizoram’s Isak Malsawmtluanga braved through injury concerns to come up with a solid performance to clinch weightlifting gold medals in the women’s 48kg and men’s 60 kg categories, respectively.

Sonowal came to the Khelo India Tribal Games carrying a knee injury, while Malsawmtluanga had to fight through a niggling back injury to put their respective states on the medals table at the Pandit Ravishankar University Ground.

In the weightlifting arena, Monikha dominated the women’s 48kg event by lifting 57kg in snatch and 75kg in Clean & Jerk to clinch the gold medal with a total of 132 kg. Deepa Rani Mallik of Odisha (120kg) and Alaaska Aleena of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1116kg) bagged the silver and bronze, respectively.

Monikha, who hails from Assam’s Dhemaji district, had twisted her knee during training three months ago, and the coaches were contemplating pulling her out of the Games, but she overruled them. “I was clear that I did not want to miss this event because I wanted to make a mark on the national stage, and I am happy that I could perform under pressure,” said the 19-year-old.

Mizoram’s Malsawmtluanga had also suffered a back injury a month before the Games in training, and that discomfort was still visible as he struggled to lift 108kg in Snatch in his third attempt and was in second place going into Clean & Jerk behind Odisha’s Subrat Naik.

But Malsawmtluanga came into his own in Clean & Jerk and successfully lifted 130kg in his second attempt to assure himself a gold medal with a total of 235kg, as Naik could only manage to lift 122kg in C&J to finish third with an aggregate of 228kg. Jharkhand’s Babulal Hembrom took home the silver medal with a total lift of 230kg.

RESULTS

FOOTBALL

Men:

Group A: Chhattisgarh drew with West Bengal 1-1

Group B: Arunachal Pradesh beat Goa 2-0

SWIMMING

Women:

200m IM: Gold – Anjali Munda (Odisha) 2:53.82s; Silver – Anushka Bhagat (Chhattisgarh) 2:59.33s; Bronze –Anjali Mallick (Odisha) 3:06.13s

100mbackstroke: Gold – Anjali Munda (Odisha) 1:19.98s; Nidhi S (Karnataka) 1:26.18s; Bronze – Parmila Molsom (Tripura) 1:28.14s

4x100m relay: Gold – Odisha 5:06.12s; Silver – Gujarat 5:54.37s; Bronze – Karnataka 6:29.69s

Men:

200m IM: Gold – Manikanta L (Karnataka) 2:25.93s; Silver – Riyaj Tripura (Tripura) 2:34.04s; Bronze – Kanhu Soren (Odisha) 2:36.21s

100m backstroke: Gold – Manikanta L (Karnataka) 1:07.74s; Silver – Nibir Nilim Krow (Assam) 1:09.25s; Bronze – Rajesh Soren (Odisha) 1:10.99s

4x100m relay: Karnataka 4:00.42s; Silver – Assam 4:02.86s; Bronze – Odisha 4:25.90s

WEIGHTLIFTING

Women:

48kg: Gold – Monikha Sonowal (Assam) 132kg; Silver – Deepa Rani Mallik (Odisha) 120kg; Bronze – Alaaska Aleena (Andaman and Nicobar Island) 115kg

53kg: Gold – Jhilli Dalabehera (Odisha) 160kg; Silver – Kiuchangliu Gangmei (Manipur) 160kg; Bronze – Larityngkai Lawriniang (Meghalaya) 132kg

Men:

60kg: Gold – Isak Malsawmtluanga (Mizoram) 235kg; Silver – Babulal Hembrom (Jharkhand) 230kg; Bronze – Subrat Naik (Odisha) 228kg

65kg: Gold – Manuranjan Dhekial (ASM) 247kg; Silver – Laithanpuia (Mizoram) 237kg; Bronze – Om Kumar (Jharkhand) 231kg.

--IANS

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