By Rohit Mitra
Srinagar, Aug 23 (UNI) Madhya Pradesh continued their good showing to finish on top of the medal tally in the first Khelo India Water Sports Festival that concluded at the Dal Lake here today
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 Jagatpur and Alappuzha.
Madhya Pradesh, which won all the four kayaking and canoeing gold at stake on Day 2, added six more gold medals on the final day on Saturday to win the team championship with a handsome tally of 18 medals.
This included three silvers and five bronze medals.
Twenty-four gold medals were at stake in the entire Water Games. Fourteen were in kayaking and canoeing and 10 in rowing. All races were Olympic events.
Twenty-one Khelo India Athletes, all from rowing, took part in the Khelo India Water Sports Festival. They won two gold medals, two silvers 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 excelled as well. Forty-seven SAI athletes won five golds, seven silvers and three bronze medals.
Jagatpur, which had 15 athletes and many from Manipur at KIWSF 2025, was the best with three golds and five silvers. Odisha’s Rasmita Sahoo was a standout athlete with two gold medals. Dally Bishnoi of MP was another.
Jammu and Kashmir did well as hosts. Mohsin Ali won the first gold medal of the Games in 1000-metres 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 the 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 in the Lower Lake in Bhopal.
The emerging talent in water sports was noticed in 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 sec). Shweta Brahmachari of West Bengal won the women’s version of the race clocking 04.00.86 seconds.
