Two more bronze medals for Goa in modern pentathlon

Panaji: Goa’s medal tally at the 38th National Games in Uttarakhand continued to improve, thanks to more medals from modern pentathlon.
Modern pentathlon involves athletes competing in swimming, fencing, horse riding (show jumping) and laser run (combination of running and pistol shooting). It’s a new addition to the National Games calendar and made its debut in Goa in 2023.
Goa picked up medals on debut at the National Games in Goa and have since then been among the top. After Babu Gaonkar won three silver medals on the opening day of the event, Goa added two more medals, both bronze, in the triathle category.
In triathle mixed relay, Pratiksha Shambhu Velip and Suraj Datta Velip combined to win the bronze, finishing behind Maharashtra and Haryana.
In triathle team event, Suraj was again among the medallists as he partnered Udesh Majik and Sunil Gaonkar to win bronze. The state team finished behind Haryana and Uttarakhand.
The big surprise in modern pentathlon at the National Games came in the triathle men's individual event where Mayank Chaphekar, the only Indian to compete at the Asian Games, finished third behind Aditya Negi (Uttarakhand) and Basant Tomar (Haryana).
Chaphekar had won six gold medals in Goa. He was India’s first-ever representation at the Asian Games in Hangzhou after initially not being named and going to court to earn his place in the contingent
Services currently lead the standings with 71 medals - 42 gold, 16 silver and 13 bronze. Karnataka have 62 medals (31 gold, 13 silver and 18 bronze) and are placed second in the medals tally. Nagaland, Puducherry and Sikkim are yet to register a gold medal in the competition.
Goa are 25th with nine medals so far. It includes two gold, three silver and four bronze.
Hosts Uttarakhand are higher up at seventh with a total haul of 67 medals. This includes a stellar collection of 15 gold, 24 silver, and 26 bronze medals.