Delhi’s Richa Mishra wins four golds in swimming

RANCHI - Swimmer Richa Mishra of Delhi bagged two more gold medals Monday, taking her gold tally to four, while Jharkhand girls got their third gold medal in taekwondo.

Richa won the 800-metre free-style, setting a new Games record and 200-metre breast-stroke. She had Sunday won gold medals in free style and butterfly events.

She is aiming to win seven medals in the curent National Games, bettering her tally of six in the 2007 Guwahati National Games of 2007. She also hopes to represent India in the 2012 Olympics.

“I am confident of getting selected for the 2012 London Olympics,” Richa told reporters after winning her fourth gold medal.

Meanwhile, Karnataka bagged the gold in the men’s relay medley while the Maharashtra bagged gold in the women’s event.

Madhya Pradeshs Sandeep Sejwal won the 200-m breast-stroke (men) while Karnatakas A.P. Gagan bagged the 1500-m free-style gold. Both Karnataka and Delhi ended the day with two golds.

In taekwondo, Jharkhands Tasin Begam bagged the gold in the under 48 kg category. On Sunday, Jharkhand won two taekwondo gold medals — K.Srilakhmi in the 73 kg category and Sonam Rajput in under 67 kg category.

In Karate events which concluded Monday, Tamil Nadu were the champions with four gold and three silver medals in their kitty, while Madhya Pradesh were placed second and Jharkhand third.

The second day of the Games seemed more organised, with organising committee officials more systematic and professional in their approach after the chaotic first day.

However, the tussle between policemen and media continued, and could be resolved only after the district administration intervened.

Even though Monday happened to be a working day, the inflow of spectators kept increasing as the day progressed. By evening, the sports complex was swelling with visitors.

The organisers had made special arrangements for school children and were provided a guided tour of all the stadiums at the complex. The children enjoyed the various events being played at the different venues and for some, it was their first opportunity to witness live action in karate, taekwondo and swimming.

Medals tally at the end of the second day of the Games:

G S B Total

Madhya Pradesh 9 7 12 28

Manipur 8 4 8 20

Maharashtra 5 6 11 22

Services 5 6 6 17

Delhi 5 3 1 9

Haryana 4 5 3 12

Jharkhand 4 4 8 16

Tamil Nadu 4 1 7 12

Karnataka 3 4 4 11

Uttar Pradesh 2 3 3 8

Goa 2 3 2 7

Punjab 1 3 5 9

Meghalaya 1 3 1 5

Sikkim 1 2 1 4

Orissa 1 1 0 2

West Bengal 1 0 2 3

Chhattisgarh 1 0 0 1

Bihar 0 1 1 2

Rajasthan 0 1 1 2

Arunachal Pradesh 0 0 5 5

Assam 0 0 2 2

Mizoram 0 0 2 2

Andhra Pradesh 0 0 1 1

Kerala 0 0 1 1

Total 57 57 87 201