{"id":2023,"date":"2026-03-25T22:53:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/?p=2023"},"modified":"2026-03-25T22:53:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:23:21","slug":"kitg-2026-swimmers-dhoneesh-n-of-karnataka-odishas-anjali-munda-clinch-first-medals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/?p=2023","title":{"rendered":"KITG 2026: Swimmers Dhoneesh N of Karnataka, Odisha\u2019s Anjali Munda clinch first medals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Raipur, March 25: Karnataka\u2019s Dhoneesh N. and Odisha\u2019s Anjali Munda clinched the first two gold medals with a dominant performance in the men\u2019s and women\u2019s 200m freestyle swimming event in the inaugural Khelo India Tribal Games (KITG) 2026 at the International Swimming Complex in Raipur on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karnataka dominated the opening day in the pool, winning five of the six gold medals on offer while hosts Chhattisgarh also opened their account with a silver and bronze medals in the women\u2019s and men\u2019s 100m breaststroke, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all, 30 states and Union Territories are participating in the inaugural edition of the Khelo India Tribal Games that will witness close to 3800 participants compete in nine sports disciplines. A whopping 106 gold medals will be on offer across archery, athletics, football, hockey, swimming, weightlifting, and wrestling, while traditional sports like Mallakhamb and Kabaddi will be demonstration sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Day 1 action on Wednesday, Karnataka lead the medal tally with seven medals, including five golds. Odisha are second with four medals, including a gold. Hosts Chhattisgarh are fourth with two medals. In the men\u2019s 200m Freestyle final, Dhoneesh clocked a time of 2:03.55s, almost seven seconds faster than statemate Keerthan Sharat (2:10.99s), who finished second. Maharashtra\u2019s Bhaktish Kumre took the bronze medal with a time of 2:14.73s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is my first Khelo India Games, and it feels truly special to win the very first gold medal of these Games. I believe I could have delivered a better timing, but I am happy,\u201d said Dhoneesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odisha bagged a gold and bronze in the women\u2019s 200m freestyle category, with Anjali stopping the clock at 2:39.02s in a near photo-finish with Karnataka\u2019s Nidhi S, who clinched the silver with a timing of 2:39.09s. Sriya Padiami of Odisha (2:49.04s) finished third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karnataka dominated all the races thereafter, with Manikanta L and Mehanjali winning two gold medals each, winning the 100m breaststroke and 50m butterfly events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manikanta bagged the men\u2019s 100m Breaststroke gold with a time of 1:07.41s, with silver medallist Palash Thakur of Maharashtra (1:11.69s) finishing almost four seconds behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nikhil Xalco opened host Chhattisgarh\u2019s account on the medals table by clinching the bronze medal with a time of 1:11.77s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manikanta then returned to the pool to bag the 50m butterfly gold with a time of 27.06s, with Assam\u2019s Firmino Emon Lalung (27.69s) and Riyaj Tripura of Tripura (28.48s) taking home the silver and bronze, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the women\u2019s category, Mehanjali was no match for her competitors in the 100m breaststroke and 50m butterfly events. In the 100m breaststroke, she clinched the gold with a time of 1:25.81s, with Chhattisgarh\u2019s Anushka Bhagat bagging the silver with a time of 1:29.10s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She then bagged the 50m butterfly gold with a time of 34.67s, ahead of Tripura\u2019s Tiluttam Hamatia (34.85s) and Odisha\u2019s Ritika Minz (35.54s)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raipur, March 25: Karnataka\u2019s Dhoneesh N. and Odisha\u2019s Anjali Munda clinched the first two gold medals with a dominant performance in the men\u2019s and women\u2019s 200m freestyle swimming event in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-display","category-sports","has_no_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2023"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2025,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023\/revisions\/2025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}