Army Defends Khelo India Winter Games Team Championship

Gulmarg : Army won an overall nine goal medals including eight in the Gulmarg leg to defend their team championship title in the Khelo India Winter Games, here on Wednesday.
Himachal Pradesh finished as the runner-up with four goal medals on the final day of the competition.
The closing ceremony the KIWG will be held at the Golf Course here on Thursday, hosted by the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council and managed by the Sports Authority of India.
The first leg of KIWG was held in Ladakh from January 20-26.
On the third day of the competition, Army and Himachal Pradesh won equal number of four golds medals apiece while hosts J&K won their first gold.
Karnataka’s veteran skier Bhavani Thekkada Nanjunda, who had clinched a hat-trick of gold medals in last year’s KIWG, finished at the top of the podium in Nordic women’s sprint across 1.5kms.
Bhavani has participated in each of the six editions of the KIWG.
Zubaid Ahmad Lone brought cheer to Jammu and Kashmir by winning the men’s giant slalom race in the snowboarding competition. He warded off a stiff challenge from Army’s Vivek Rana.
J&K finished with a gold and a silver and 10th spot in the medal standings.
While Armyman Mayank Panwar was the slalom man of the Games with a pair of gold medals, Army showed complete domination in the Nordic (cross-country) events.
In the 15kms Nordic skiing race, Mohammad Ali (34:21.49 secs) led an Army 1-2-3 with Padma Namgail (34:36.74 secs) winning the silver medal and Sunny Singh (35:16.83 secs) claiming the bronze.
Three skiers finished with double gold medals in this year’s KIWG as CRPF’s Kajal Kumari Rai was joined by Panwar and Himachal Pradesh’s Preeti Thakur, who topped in both the slalom and giant slalom races in snowboarding. (Agencies)