Khelo India Winter Games 2024: Double for Varsha Puranik, Nayana Sri Talluri; Army, Ladakh men in ice-hockey semis

Karnataka continue to lead the medal standings with four golds; ITBP, Himachal men in ice-hockey last-four stage

Leh, February 4, 2024: On a snowy, cold and cloudy Sunday morning,Maharashtra finally struck an ice-skating gold on Day 3 of the Khelo India Winter Games 2024 in Ladakh as Karnataka led the medal tally with their fourth gold medal overall out of a total of eight decided thus far.

Three ice-skating short-track gold medals were decided at the NDS Stadium in Leh on Sunday. India international Varsha Puranik, who won the 300m short track race for women in the above 17 years’ category on Saturday, won the 500m version of the race to complete a grand double. Once again, 37-year-old Varsha led from start to finish to clinch the race in 1:07.78 seconds.

Telangana are second on the medal tally entirely due to the talented Nayana Sri Talluri.  She completed a short track double by winning the 500m race in the women’s Under-17 final on Sunday. Nayana Sri had won the 300m event on Saturday.

The 15-year-old Hyderabad-based Nayana Sri is among the rising stars in her division. This is Telangana’s second appearance in the Khelo Winter Games. They won five ice skating medals on their debut at Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir in February 2023.

Maharashtra jumped to the third spot in the standings when Aarav Patwardhan clinched the men’s under-17 500 metres short track gold on Sunday. This was the state’s first gold in KIWG 2024. This event was a hotly contested race with Patwardhan (54.55 sec) doing every trick in the book to deny Telangana’s Pranav Surapaneni (55.65) the lead in the five-lap race.   

Maharashtra, with the largest collection of silver (7) and bronze (5) medals, have the largest haul of (13) medals in the Games so far. Uttar Pradesh are stuck at the fourth place with their only ice skating gold coming on February 2.

While all medals so far in the Khelo India Winter Games 2024 have been awarded to ice-skaters, the ice-hockey competition is really getting hot. Matches are being held at the NDS Stadium and the Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre, on the way to Kargil.

Hosts Ladakh, Army and the ITBP teams have attracted massive and vociferous crowds whenever they have played. After the end of the men’s group league matches on Sunday, ITBP and Himachal Pradesh from group A have entered the semifinals. From group B, Army and national champions Ladakh have made it to the last-four. Both semifinals will be played on Monday.

In the women’s division, four teams are playing a round-robin league. If trends and results of the matches are any indication, ITBP and Ladakh will contest for the gold while Himachal Pradesh and Telangana will lay for the bronze.