Richa-Rehan Poncha rivalry heat up in Games

Guwahati, Feb 15 (UNI) Richa Mishra-Rehan Poncha rivalry for highest individual medal haul overshadowed almost every other discipline at the 33rd National Games here on a day when Manipur's march as overall leader seems to have slowed down.

At the end of the seventh day, Manipur is still ahead of its rivals with 44 gold but Services is fast catching up with 38 Gold, bulk of them coming from athletics, equestrian and shooting.

Hosts Asom has surprised everybody at the third pace with 22 Gold.

Delhi golden girl Richa, after two quite days, picked up two more Gold to take her overall tally to eight while Rehan Poncha also picked up two more to take his haul to seven Gold though his overall medals has shot up to 12, pocketing three Silver and a Bronze.

Asom stormed into the final of the football competition beating Bengal 3-0 in the semi-final, sending the home team into the wild celebration. They will take on Meghalaya in the final.

In athletics, Kerala lived up to expectations and dominated the track, picking up five gold today. They ended athletics events with 26 medals, 12 of which were gold. The nearest competitors, Services, ended with five gold in a total of 16 medals.

Games' fastest man S Arjunith picked up two more gold to take his tally to three. He won 200m race and 4x100 m relay event, teaming up with Girish Vishwanathan, Ahammed Kabeer, Roshan Issac John.

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