Srinagar: Madhya Pradesh continued their good form on Saturday to finish on top of the medal tally in the first Khelo India Water Sports Festival that concluded at the Dal Lake here. Odisha and Kerala finished in the top three largely due to the contribution of athletes who train at the Sports Authority of India centres in Jatpur and Alappuzha.
Madhya Pradesh, which won all four kayaking and canoeing gold medals at stake on Day 2, added six more gold medals to its tally on the final day on Saturday to win the team championship with a handsome tally of 18 medals. This included three silver medals and five bronze. In all, 24 gold medals were at stake in the entire Water Sports Festival. Of these, 14 were in kayaking and canoeing, and 10 were in rowing. All races were Olympic events.
Odisha and Kerala profited from SAI training centres in Jagatpur and Alappuzha. Twenty-one Khelo India Athletes, all from rowing, took part in the Khelo India Water Sports Festival. They won two gold medals, two silver, and as many bronze medals in the 10 rowing events.
The performance of kayakers and canoeists, who train at the five SAI centres across India, was excellent. Forty-seven SAI athletes won five gold, seven silver, and three bronze medals. Jagatpur, which had 15 athletes and many from Manipur, was the best, winning three gold and five silver medals at KIWSF 2025. Odisha’s Rasmita Sahoo was a standout athlete with two gold medals. Dally Bishnoi of MP was another, who bagged two gold medals.
Jammu and Kashmir did well as hosts. Mohsin Ali won the first gold medal of the Games in the 1000-metre men’s Kayaking event. It was a career highlight for the youngster. Two more youngsters — Sajad Hussain and Muhammad Hussain, who train under SAI coach Zulfkar Ali Bhat at the Nehru Park centre at Dal Lake, added a medal each. J&K finished seventh with a gold, a silver, and a bronze.
There was a lot of focus on Shikha Chauhan, Reena Sen, and Pallavi Jagtab. Fresh from their historic silver medal at the Asian Canoe Slalom Championship in Guizhou, China, all three finished among the medals on the final day. Shikha won the kayaking singles slalom gold, and Pallavi finished No. 1 in the canoeing singles, where Reena (Uttarakhand) finished third. Shikha and Pallavi train in the state water sports facility at the Lower Lake in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
The emerging talent in water sports was noticed at the Khelo India Water Sports Festival. There were some upsets, too. Tokyo Olympian and Army rower Arjun Lal Jat, representing Delhi, was relegated to silver by Odisha’s Aviraj in the men’s single scull over a distance of 1000 metres. Aviraj (03.37.54 seconds) won a tight race against Jat (03.28.68 seconds). Shweta Brahmachari of West Bengal won the women’s version of the race, clocking 04.00.86 seconds.
(IANS)
