Raipur, March 31 Jharkhand sprinters Shiv Kumar Soren and Prithvi Oraon emerged as the fastest men and women athletes, respectively, in the inaugural edition of the Khelo India Tribal Games here on Tuesday.
For the hosts, Chhattisgarh, Siddharth Nagesh won a gold medal in the shot put and a silver in the discus throw, while Tilak Barsel won the men’s 100m silver.
Shiv Kumar and Prithvi dominated their 100m races to win the gold double for their state. Shiv Kumar clocked 10.58 seconds, while Barsel finished the race in 10.87 seconds to win the silver medal. Odisha's Atish Kindo (10.91 seconds) took the bronze medal.
In the women's 100m final, 16-year-old Prithvi set a personal best of 12.73 seconds to win the gold.
Nagaland's Ruduolhounuo Belho (12.90 seconds) and Jharkhand's Putul Bakshi (13.03 seconds) took home the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
"I was confident of winning a medal as I had performed well in the selection trials for the Games. Today, I focused on giving my best, and I am happy that I could set my personal best time," said Prithvi after the race.
For the hosts, Siddharth began the day with a silver medal in the men's discus throw, clearing a distance of 35.56m. Gujarat's Danish Makvana won the gold with a throw of 44.83m, while Chandray Murmu of Odisha (33.97m) won the bronze.
In the evening session, Nagesh won the shot put gold, clearing a distance of 13.52m. Danish Makvana won the silver with a throw of 13.04m.
The hosts, Chhattisgarh, also reached the women's football final after defeating Arunachal Pradesh in a penalty shootout.
Chhattisgarh will face Jharkhand in the final after the latter defeated Gujarat 9-0 in a dominant performance.
With the athletics session of the previous evening cancelled due to unseasonal rains in Jagdalpur, there was a packed morning session with seven finals. The long jump final kept the spectators on the edge of their seats.
It was Abdul Fathah who emerged victorious in a close contest with Bhima Sardar of Odisha, as the 26-year-old became the first long jumper from Lakshadweep to clear the 7m mark.
He leaped to a distance of 7.03m in his final attempt to win the gold medal, while Bhima took the silver with an effort of 6.96m. Jivan Bilung of Odisha won the bronze medal with a distance of 6.95m.
On the track, the men's 400m final witnessed a photo-finish. Odisha's Nobal Kumar Kissan's last-ditch effort at the finish line was not enough for him to beat eventual champion Santoshbhai Ganvit of Gujarat.
Ganvit clocked a time of 49.332 seconds, while Nobal finished second with a time of 49.335 seconds. Ramu of Karnataka won the bronze with a time of 49.60 seconds.
Manasi Kunkalka opened Goa's gold medal account by winning the women's shot put gold with a distance of 9.72m. Anamika Gond of Bihar (9.50m) and Melibadkro of Meghalaya (9.43m) won the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Karnataka continue to lead the medal tally with 19 gold, seven silver, and seven bronze medals, while Odisha is second with 13 gold, eight silver, and 15 bronze medals.
Jharkhand jumped to the third spot in the overall rankings after adding the women's 4x100m gold and men's 77kg Greco Roman gold to take their tally to seven gold, two silver, and five bronze.
Chhattisgarh took the 10th place in the medals tally with two gold, seven silver, and four bronze medals.