Tamil Nadu's former World Cup-winning shooter Narmada Nithin Raju outgunned her more fancied rivals to win the 10m air rifle gold with a national record, even as Karnataka continued to top the medal tally with another strong show in the swimming pool at the National Games in Dehradun on Thursday.
The 23-year-old Narmada beat the likes of Asian Games medallist Ramita Jindal and Olympian Elavenil Valarivan as she shot 254.4 to create a national record but missed equalling the world mark by a fraction of a point on her way to gold.
Karnataka picked up a gold and a silver in swimming as well as a yellow metal in men's road cycling event on Thursday to accumulate 12 medals (7 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze) and cling to the top position.
Manipur was closing in on second place with 11 medals (6 gold, 5 silver) after picking a gold each in wushu and triathlon on Thursday.
Last edition medal tally topper Maharashtra has so far won the maximum number of medals -- 23 (4 gold, 11 silver, 8 bronze) -- but its lesser number of yellow metals meant that it's in the third spot as the competition heated up across sports at the end of the second day of competitions.
The brand new Trishool Shooting Range in Dehradun saw stiff competition in a star-studded field with Narmada running away with the accolades as she broke the earlier national mark of 252.9 set by Olympian Apurvi Chandela at the 2019 World Cup in New Delhi.
The World record in the event is 254.5 points, set by Huang Yuting of China at last year's ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi.
Maharashtra's Arya Borse (252.5) and Haryana's Ramita (230.4) finished second and third respectively in the eight-shooter final.
"I can't express how happy I am. Representing my state is always a point of pride. Handling pressure on the range is part of the game, but today, it all came together," Narmada said.
Reflecting on her journey, Narmada had some words for young athletes.
"Instead of looking for role models, be your own. Push yourself every day, and you'll find success."
This was Narmada's third-biggest career achievement in the event after she had won the 10m air rifle mixed team gold partnering Rudrankksh Patil at the 2023 Cairo World Cup and a bronze at the World Cup in Bhopal the same year.
Self-assured and in total control of her nerves, Narmada, who was third at the end of the qualification round on Wednesday, shot a string of superb scores to stamp her authority over her more illustrious rivals in the final.
She consistently produced high scores with three of her shots achieving maximum impact of 10.9, while another two shots in the 24-shot final fetched her 10.8. She didn't go below 10 in any of her 24 shots in the final.
Among other results, Haryana's 2022 World Championships silver medallist Anish Bhanwala bagged gold in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event as he finished with 31 hits, three ahead of the silver medallist Gurpreet Singh of Services (28 hits) in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol final.
Vijayveer Sidhu (Punjab) secured the bronze with 26 hits.
Bhanwala, who returned to competition after a lengthy break, was all smiles following the victory.
"It feels great to be back. This is my second gold at the National Games, my first was in Ahmedabad. The long break has been tough, but it's all part of the journey," he said.
In weightlifting, Chhattisgarh grabbed two gold medals to emerge as a strong force. Vijay Kumar clinched gold in the men's 55kg category with a national record-equalling clean and jerk effort while another Chhattisgarh weightlifter Gyaneshwari Yadav won the yellow metal in the women's 49kg.
After a 105kg snatch, Kumar lifted 143kg in the clean and jerk section for a total of 248kg which handed him the gold. He now shares the clean and jerk national record with Maharashtra's Sanket Sargar who made the mark in 2022.
Maharashtra took both the silver and bronze through Mukund Aher (total lift of 247kg) and Srinivas Goud (244kg).
For Kumar, the triumph was the culmination of an unwavering journey filled with adversity and setbacks.
Born into a family that couldn't afford sports supplements or specialized training, Kumar's early years were a battle against both financial hardship and self-doubt. For years, his diet was as simple as "daal-chawal", but his ambition was far from modest.
"My parents didn't see a future in weightlifting," said Kumar after his event, reflecting on his early struggles.
"They wanted me to quit, but I couldn't. This was my passion, my only choice. Today's gold is proof I was right to keep going."
Gyaneshwari lifted a total of 191kg (85kg+106kg) to win the gold while Maharashtra's Sarika Shingare (179kg total lift) and Komal Kohar (179kg) of Haryana bagged the silver and bronze respectively.
Maharashtra won six medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze) on Thursday, the opening day of weightlifting competitions.
In triathlon also, Maharashtra delivered an outstanding performance, securing six medals (2 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze).
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