Mumbai teen Modi stuns Sathiyan for table tennis gold

Mumbai's 19-year-old paddler Jash Modi reckons he has richer medals to show than a National Games gold in singles, but the victory that fetched him the title was the biggest of his career so far.

- HT Correspondent

MUMBAI:

That's because the youngster defeated G Sathiyan, the Tokyo Olympian and former top 25 in the world, in the men's singles final to be crowned the 2025 National Games champion in Dehradun on Thursday. The title clash went the distance, with Modi keeping his composure to overcome a two-game deficit and a sixth-game blip and eke out a 4-3 (7-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 14-12, 6-11, 11-6) win over his seasoned opponent.

Meanwhile, Karnataka registered a hard-fought 3-2 victory against Uttar Pradesh to win the men's hockey gold. Faraz Khan converted a penalty corner in the opening minute for UP, while Shamanth drew level in the eighth minute. Bharath Mahalingappa Kurtakoti (18th) and Abharan Sudev B (39th) scored from penalty corners for Karnataka to strengthen their position. Uttar Pradesh's Sharda Nand Tiwari converted a penalty corner in the 45th minute. However, Karnataka held on to the team to win the title.

In the women's competition, Haryana defeated Madhya Pradesh 4-1 to win gold. Madhya Pradesh's Chavan Aishwarya converted a penalty corner in the fifth minute to hand her side an early lead. However, Haryana came back hard in the second half with goals from Mahima Choudhary (37th), Ishika (45th, 50th), and Monika (55th).

On the last day of shooting competition, Haryana beat Punjab in a close skeet final to win gold medal. Shaan Singh Libra and Raiza Dhillon got the better of Punjab's Ganemat Sekhon and Bhavtegh Singh Gill, 41-39.

In artistic gymnastics, West Bengal's Ritu Das clinched gold medal with 11.367 points in balance beam. Maharashtra's Satakshi Rakesh Takke secured silver with 11.067 points and Odisha's Pranati Nayak won the bronze (10.733 points).