Ladakh women skate to historic gold; Army set up ice-hockey final versus ITBP

Leh, Feb 5 (PTI) It was a mixed day for hosts Ladakh in the Khelo India Winter Games as they won a first-ever gold in the women’s short track 1600m relay at the NDS sports complex here while the men’s ice-hockey team went down 0-4 against a powerful ITBP in a semi-final match.

The second semifinal between favourites Army and Himachal Pradesh was a rather one-sided affair. Army won 10-2. Konchok Namgail (three) and Rigzin Norboo (two) were the main scorers for the winners.

Maharashtra added two more skating golds to take their total tally to three but Karnataka continue to lead the standings with four.

Maharashtra’s gold medals on Monday came in the men’s short track (1600m) relay and the mixed short track relay over the same distance. Ladakh won the silver in the mixed team race.

Maharashtra’s domination in the relays was never in question because their skaters have more silver and bronze medals (13) out of a possible 22. Eleven skating gold medals have been decided in the Games so far.

Ladakhs historic gold in women’s short track came like a breath of fresh air on another cold day. It’s been snowing overnight but the NDS groundstaff did a good job to prepare the rink for the skating competition.

The Ladakh quartet of Skarma Tsultim, Insha Fatima, Tasnia Shamim, Padma Angmo responded beautifully clocking 3:55.80 to relegate Maharashtra (4:17.12) to the second place by a decent margin.