Odisha’s Anjali bags golden hat-trick

Raipur: Swimmer Manikanta L single-handedly kept Karnataka at the top of the medals table as he grabbed three more gold medals Thursday to take his individual gold tally to five while Odisha’s Anjali Munda completed a hat-trick of gold medals in the swimming competition on the second day of the Khelo India Tribal Games (KITG) 2026 in Raipur Thursday. There was also a reason for hosts Chhattisgarh to rejoice as local hope Anushka Bhagat added a second silver to her tally by finishing second in the women’s 200m individual medley race. Anushka had won the 100m breaststroke silver Wednesday.

At the end of Day 2, Karnataka topped the medals chart with eight gold, three silver, and one bronze, while Odisha were close second with five gold medals, one silver, and eight bronze medals. Assam are third with five medals (two gold), while Chhattisgarh are lying sixth with three medals (two silvers and a bronze). Odisha won all three gold medals on offer in women’s swimming events, with Anjali adding two. Anjali Munda, who had won the 200m freestyle gold Wednesday, first clinched the women’s 200m IM gold with a time of 2:53.82s, with Chhattisgarh’s Anushka Bhagat winning the silver with a time of 2:59.33s. The bronze medal went to Anjali Mallick of Odisha (3:06.13s). Anjali then added the 100m backstroke crown to her tally with a time of 1:19.98s, with Karnataka’s Nidhi S taking the silver medal with a time of 1:26.18s. Though Anjali did not represent her state in the 4×100 relay, the quartet of Ritika Minz, Krushna Nayak, Rupali Hembram, and Subhasmita Baipai clocked a time of 5:06.12s to beat Gujarat (5:54.37s) and Karnataka (6:29.69s) for the gold medal.

Odisha’s fourth gold medal of the day came from the weightlifting hall, where former Asian Championships gold medallist Jhilli Dalabehera took the top spot against Kiuchangliu Gangmei of Manipur due to her lower body weight after both players had lifted an identical aggregate of 160kg. In the weightlifting arena, Monikha dominated the women’s 48kg event by lifting 57kg in snatch and 75kg in Clean & Jerk to clinch the gold medal with a total of 132 kg. Deepa Rani Mallik of Odisha (120kg) and Alaaska Aleena of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1116kg) bagged the silver and bronze, respectively.