Raipur: Chhattisgarh women’s football team continued their solid run in the inaugural Khelo India Tribal Games (KITG) 2026, aided by the individual brilliance of their captain Kiran Pisda, by defeating Jharkhand 1-0 in the final on their way to securing a gold medal in Raipur on Thursday.
The hosts also added the men’s 4x400m relay silver and men’s 1500m bronze to their overall tally on the penultimate day of track & field competitions in Jagdalpur. Further, Jharkhand’s Shiv Kumar Soren completed a grand double by adding the 200m gold to his 100m triumph.
The Chhattisgarh women’s team made the most of the solitary chance they got against the aggressive Jharkhand outfit when their captain pounced on a defensive lapse to score in the 61st minute, and then the host team held on to the advantage to clinch the title.
“It’s a special moment for us because this is the first time so many fans came to support us, and I am very happy that we could win the gold medal in front of our home crowd,” said an elated Kiran, the only international player in the home squad.
In all, 30 States and Union Territories are participating in the first-ever Khelo India Tribal Games, which is witnessing close to 3800 sportspersons compete in seven disciplines like archery, athletics, football, hockey, swimming, weightlifting, and wrestling, while Mallakhamb and Kabaddi are demonstration sports.
In Jagdalpur, the last day of athletics competitions saw Soren and Karnataka’s Reethushree and Nagini claiming their second gold medal on the athletics track at Kreeda Parisar complex.
Soren, who became the fastest athlete of the Games on Tuesday, clinched the 200m gold with a time of 21.51s. Earlier, Reethushree added the 200m gold to her 400m win with a time of 25.87s, and then Nagini completed the women’s 800m and 1500m double when she won the four-lap race in 4:43.87s.
Hosts Chhattisgarh added a silver medal in the men’s 4x400m relay after finishing second behind Odisha. The winners clocked a time of 3:18.47s while the Chhattisgarh quarter finished with 3:19.26s. The bronze went to Jharkhand (3:19.62s).
Earlier, Manish Kumar bagged a bronze to boost Chhattisgarh’s tally with an effort of 4:01.50s in the men’s 1500 final. The gold went to Jharkhand’s Rahul Oraon (4:01.18s) with Maharashtra’s Kartik Karilharpal (4:01.23s) taking home the silver medal.
With just one day left for the curtains to fall on the inaugural edition of the Khelo India Tribal Games, hosts Chhattisgarh move up to ninth place with three gold, nine silver, and six bronze medals.
With Reethushree and Nagini adding two gold medals to Karnataka’s tally, the table toppers now have 23 gold, eight silver, and seven bronze to show for their effort.
Odisha are second with 20 gold, 13 silver, and 21 bronze, while Jharkhand consolidated their position with four gold medals from athletics and one from archery to take their tally to 14 gold, seven silver, and 11 bronze.
Jharkhand’s archery gold came through former world junior champion Komalika Bari and Krishna Pingua, who clinched the recurve mixed team crown, beating Odisha’s Arjun Khara and Mamitaoram.
Maharashtra’s Harshwardhan Ingle clinched the compound men’s individual title and then added the compound mixed team crown, partnering Vaishnavi Pardeshi to take the state’s tally to move to fourth spot in the overall standings with six gold, 10 silver, and four bronze medals.
RESULTS
ARCHERY
Women
Compound Individual: Gold – Priya Banavath (Andhra Pradesh); Silver – Megha Besra (Jharkhand); Bronze – Vaishnavi Pardeshi (Maharashtra)
Compound Team: Gold – Meghalaya; Silver – Nagaland; Bronze – Jharkhand
Men
Compound Individual: Gold – Harshwardhan Ingle (Maharashtra); Silver – Keshaba Banara (Odisha); Bronze – Sagar Raita (Odisha)
Compound Team: Gold – Meghalaya; Silver – Assam; Bronze – Odisha
Compound Mixed Team: Gold – Maharashtra; Silver – Andhra Pradesh; Bronze — Jharkhand
Recurve Mixed Team: Gold – Jharkhand; Silver – Odisha; Bronze — Nagaland
ATHLETICS
Women
200m: Gold – Reethushree (Karnataka) 25.87s; Silver – Anamika Oraon (Jharkhand) 26.13s; Bronze – Adhithya KM (Kerala) 26.67s
1500m: Gold – Nagini (Karnataka) 4:43.87s; Silver – Shakila Vasave (Maharashtra) 4:48.94s; Bronze – Sunita Santa (Odisha) 4:53.72s
10000m: Gold – Sanjita Oraon (West Bengal) 40:21.18s; Silver – Sandhya Murmu (Odisha) 41:17.79s; Bronze – Balarisha Thyrniang (Meghalaya) 42:29.41s
4x400m relay: Gold – Jharkhand 3:58.03s; Silver – Odisha 4:05.69s; Bronze – Maharashtra 4:11.90s
Long Jump: Gold – Priti Lakra (Jharkhand) 5.54m; Silver – Martina Lakra (Madhya Pradesh) 5.47m; Bronze – Mayuri Gamit (Gujarat) 5.42m
Men
200m: Gold – Shiv Kumar Soren (Jharkhand) 21.51s; Silver – Arpan Tai (Assam) 22.38s; Bronze – Jagdish Meena (Rajasthan) 22.48s
1500m: Gold – Rahul Oraon (Jharkhand) 4:01.18s; Silver – Kartik Kariharpal (Maharashtra) 4:01.23s; Bronze – Manish Kumar (Chhattisgarh) 4:01.50s
10,000m: Gold – Wede Tmero (Nagaland) 32:28.46s; Silver – Kamlakar Deshmukh (Maharashtra) 32:42.29s; Bronze – Hans Raj (J&K) 32:54.98s
4x400m: Gold – Odisha 3:18.47s; Silver – Chhattisgarh 3:19.26s; Bronze – Jharkhand 3:19.62s
Javelin Throw: Gold – Gulab Singh (Madhya Pradesh) 62.80m; Silver – Promod Hagier (Assam) 62.30m; Bronze – Somnath Singh (Odisha) 58.05m
FOOTBALL
Women’s final: Chhattisgarh (Kiran Pisda 61’) defeated Jharkhand 0
Gold – Chhattisgarh; Silver – Jharkhand; Bronze – Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat
(IANS)
