Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh's men's beach handball team secured a bronze medal, earning the state its first medal at the 38th National Games underway in Uttarakhand on Thursday. In the Wushu men's nandao event, Mohit Thapa clinched a silver medal, placing UP 16th in the overall medal tally. Thapa scored 8.71 points to win silver, while the gold medal went to a player from Madhya Pradesh with 8.74 points, and the bronze was claimed by a Rajasthan player with 8.66 points.
Earlier, in the beach handball competition held in Shivpuri, Rishikesh, Uttar Pradesh defeated Rajasthan 18-22, 25-16 (5-1) in a thrilling penalty shootout to secure the bronze medal.
In the first set, Rajasthan started strong and won 22-18, but UP levelled the match with a 25-16 victory in the second set, thanks to stellar performances from Mohit Yadav and Shubham Singh. In the decisive penalty shootout, UP scored five goals, while Rajasthan managed just one. UP goalkeeper Saurabh made crucial saves, ensuring the team's victory.
UPOA general secretary Anandeshwar Pandey congratulated Mohit Thapa and the UP beach handball team on their medal-winning performances.
Later in the day, Kalaripayattu players won three more bronze medals in the demonstration event. Kalaripayattu state general secretary Praveen Garg stated that in the event held in Haridwar, Sunny and Sahil from Lucknow won bronze medals in the fencing competition, while Sameeksha Singh secured a bronze in the under-60 kg fight category.
Mansi Jaiswal also claimed a bronze medal in Chuvadukul.
The beach volleyball team: Mohit Yadav (Lucknow), Ankit Chaudhary, Rohan, Shubham Singh (Lucknow), Haseen Khan (Basti), Maninder Singh (Bijnor), Sanchit (Azamgarh), Saurabh (Gorakhpur), Gurdeep Khatri (Kanpur), Udit Pathak (Etawah).
Aditri clinches U-14 title
Aditri Singh breezed past Aashi Kiran 6-2, 6-0 to clinch the Under-14 singles title in the UP State Ranking Tennis Tournament at La Martiniere courts on Thursday. In the U-16 boys' singles event, Shikhar Kumar defeated Aryan Kumar 6-2, 6-0 to claim the trophy, while the pair of Shikhar Singh and Anay Srivastava overcame Samarth Bhatnagar and Yaduraj Singh Bihani 6-1, 6-4 to win the doubles title.
‘Babu' stadium beat Chowk stadium
KD Singh 'Babu' Stadium defeated Chowk Stadium in a three-day cricket tournament at KD Singh 'Babu' Stadium. Arbaaz was named Player of the Series, while Rudransh, Vaibhav, and Salauddin received the Best Keeper, Best Bowler, and Best Batsman trophies, respectively. The Best Fielder trophy was awarded to Alakh Swaraj, while Arghya Swaraj was named the Emerging Player. RSO Animesh Saxena presented the prizes to the winners.
Golf tourney
As many as 190 golfers will compete in the three-day Springboks Golf Tournament, set to tee off at Lucknow Golf Club on Friday. Justice AR Masoodi will unveil the trophy.