Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain boxes her way to gold, Thapa signs off with silver

Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain of Assam lived up to her top billing as she punched her way to gold in a convincing manner even as the formidable Services jumped to the top of the medal table after grabbing 10 yellow metals on Friday at the National Games.

Out of the 10 gold Services added on Friday, seven came from the boxing arena in Pithoragarh.

Services, who had topped the table for four successive Games in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2022 before finishing second in 2023, leapfrogged Karnataka to occupy the top spot in the medal tally with 38 gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze medals for a total haul of 38.

Karnataka dropped to second with 57 medals (30 gold, 12 silver, 15 bronze) in its kitty, while Maharashtra remained at third position with 22 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze for a total haul of 101.

Uttarakhand broke into the top 10 with eight gold, 19 silver and 17 bronze for a total haul of 44 medals. The host state is currently at the 10th spot.

Playing her first tournament since the Paris Olympics, Lovlina dominated her younger opponent Pranshu Rathore from Chandigarh across all three rounds to register a convincing 5-0 win in the 75kg summit bout.

Her state-mate and six-time Asian champion Shiva Thapa signed off with a silver medal in the men's 63.5kg category after losing a close bout to Services' Vanshaj, who won with a 4-3 scoreline.

Assam won another gold through former youth world champion Ankushita Boro, who reigned supreme in the women's welterweight (66kg) event, outclassing Uttarakhand's Kajal by a unanimous decision.

It was, however, Services who dominated the boxing arena. Besides Vanshaj, other six Services gold medallists boxers of the day were Mandengbam Jadumani Singh (men's 51kg), Sachin (men's 57kg), Hitesh Gulia (men's 71kg), Lakshya Chahar (men's 80kg), Jaismine Lamboria (women's 60kg) and Sakshi (women's 57kg).

In the women's bantamweight category, Madhya Pradesh's Divya Panwar triumphed over Uttar Pradesh's Sonia Lather with a 4-1 victory.

Local boxer Nivedita Karki showed precision and agility as she overpowered Haryana's Kalpana to claim the top spot in the women's flyweight (50kg) event.

At the tennis courts in Dehradun, Tamil Nadu ended Karnataka's reign at the top with a hard-fought 2-0 win in men's team gold medal match.

Abhinav Shanmugam put Tamil Nadu ahead with a hard-fought 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 win over Rishi Reddy in the first rubber.

Like in their semifinal the previous day, it appeared SD Prajwal Dev, Karnataka's No. 1 player, would make it all-square with a fine start.

The 28-year-old from Mysuru clinched the opening set against Manish Sureshkumar to raise visions of a Karnataka comeback.

However, Prajwal allowed his rival a look-in.

Sureshkumar, who played the big points well, took the second set 6-4. In the decider, the script remained unchanged as the Tamil Nadu player kept Prajwal at bay to win 6-4 and help his team dethrone Karnataka.

In archery, Haryana picked up a gold medal each in the men's and women's Indian round team events to dominate competitions.

Haryana's Yashu, Ashish Malik, Rahul and Ravi emerged victorious in the men's team event of the Indian round archery competition.

Uttar Pradesh, represented by Subham, Manish, Jaydeep Kushwaha and Abhishek, claimed the silver, while Maharashtra's Gaurav Sanjayrao Chandane, Roshan Narayan Solanke, Aniket Mahendra Gavade and Pawan Sadanrao Jadhav took home the bronze.

The women's team event saw Haryana continue its dominance, with Nikita, Divya, Monika and Kajal securing the gold. Manipur's strong contingent of Laiphrakpam Rojina Devi, Moirangthem Baby Devi, Millennia Thokchom and Heikrujam Roshina Devi claimed the silver.

Chhattisgarh team of Chandni Sahu, Sulochana Raj, Sushila Netam and Harshita Sahu secured the bronze.

Uttar Pradesh archer Manish claimed the gold in the men's individual event, while his state-mate Subham took the silver. Manipur's Chingakham Nelson Singh secured the bronze.

In the women's individual event, Manipur's Laiphrakpam Rojina Devi emerged victorious, with Chhattisgarh's Chandni Sahu taking the silver and Assam's Tutumoni Boro securing the bronze.

In the mixed team event, Maharashtra duo of Gaurav Sanjayrao Chandane and Bhavna Santosh Satyagiri clinched the gold, while Jharkhand's Madho Birua and Manisha Kumari settled for silver.

Assam's Arun Baro and Namrata Brahma secured the bronze in a close contest.

The Indian round is a combination of both equipment and competition rules -- archers use bows made from bamboo but that resemble modern equipment, with stabilisers and sights, and shoot at generally closer distances.

In men's football final played in Haldwani, Kerala beat hosts Uttrarakhand 1-0 to beg the gold. Earlier in the day, Delhi defeated Assam to secure the bronze medal.

In Haridwar, Odisha and Mizoram registered convincing 4-1 and 4-0 wins over Karnataka and Uttarakhand respectively in the women's hockey competition.

In another Pool B match, Jharkhand and Maharashtra played out a goalless draw. With this draw, Jharkhand have retained the top position in the pool standings.

In the men's competition, Uttar Pradesh defeated Haryana 2-1 in a Pool B contest, while Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu played out a 1-1 draw.

In lawn bowls, Jharkhand will take on Odisha, while Assam will face West Bengal in the semifinal of the women's pairs competition.

In men's singles competition semifinals, West Bengal will face Bihar, and Jharkhand will meet Assam. PTI