Weightlifter Susanta Sahu gave Odisha something to cheer about by winning one bronze medal at the 36th National Games in Gujarat today, which, otherwise, turned out to be a disappointing one for the State.

Susant won the lone medal for the state in mens 67kg weight category with a total lift of 270kg at Mahatma Mandir Exhibition Hall in Gandhinagar. He lifted 119kg in snatch and 151kg in clean & jerk. Subhash Lahre (Services) and K Neelam Raju (Andhra Pradesh) claimed the gold and silver medal respectively in this weight class.

The bronze by Susanta was the third of its kind for Odisha in weightlifting and fourth in total. Haryana led medal tally with a total of 29 medals, which include 14 gold, seven silver and eight bronze.

But Odisha suffered a stunning setback as Dutee Chand and Srabani Nanda, the pair of Olympic women sprinters of the State, failed to win any medal in 100m race. In the final, Srabani finished sixth and Dutee seventh with an identical timing of 11.69 seconds.

Andhra Pradesh sprinter Jyothi Yarraji, who is a trainee of Bhubaneswar-based Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre, won the women 100m gold, clocking 11.51 seconds, while Archana Suseendran (Tamil Nadu) and Diandra Valladares (Maharashtra) took the silver and bronze respectively.

The day turned out to be a glorious one for the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics HPC as its trainees clinched a sprint double in the National Games. Assam sprinter Amlan Borgohain completed the double by winning the mens 100m gold with a time of 10.38 seconds.

Elakiyadasan VK and Siba Kumar B (both Tamil Nadu) secured the silver and bronze respectively, behind Borgohain. Odisha suffered another heartbreat in athletics as mens 100m National record holder Amiya Kumar Mallick failed to qualify for the final. He bowed out in the semifinals, finishing fourth in semifinal Heat-1 with a time of 10.58 seconds.
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PHOTO: Odisha lifter Susanta Sahu displays his National Games bronze medal in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on 1 October 2022.