National Games | Kerala regains football gold after 28 years

Kerala wins National Games men's football title after 27 years; Manish and Rojina Devi shine in archery.

Kerala defeated host Uttarakhand by a lone goal and won the National Games men’s football title after 28 years at Haldwani on Friday.

S. Gokul scored the match-winner in the 53rd minute. Kerala last won the gold in 1997. It finished runner-up in 2022 and took the bronze at the last Games in Goa in 2023.

Kerala was down to 10 men in the 75th minute after M. Safwan was red-carded.

Meanwhile, in archery’s Indian round competition, Manish defeated his Uttar Pradesh teammate Subham 6-2 for the men’s individual gold medal while Manipur’s Laiphrakpam Rojina Devi won the women’s title.

Asian champion sprint hurdler Jyothi Yarraji, Asian Games 800m silver medallist Mohammed Afsal, Asiad triple jump bronze medallist Praveen Chithravel and star quartermiler Vithya Ramraj are some of the stars who will be in action in the athletics competition which begins at the Maharana Pratap Sports Complex on Saturday.

While the men’s 400m does not have any big names, the presence of Olympian Kiran Pahal and other leading stars like Rupal Chaudhary and Aishwarya Mishra in the start list is bound to make the women’s quartermile an interesting affair.

Since the National Games come very early in the season in a year which has the Asian and the World championships lined up, many of the top names have stayed away from Dehradun. But that will give a nice opportunity for the young athletes to showcase their talent.