Diu, Jan 7 (IANS) Chandigarh’s Simran and Sonia broke the hearts of local fans as they defeated home favourites Anushka Singh and Anshu Kumari in the women’s Ganda double final in Pencak Silat on Day 3 of the Khelo India Beach Games 2026 at the Ghoghla Beach here on Wednesday.

Manipur won the men’s version of the event for their first gold of KIBG 2026.

The Khelo India Beach Games 2026, organised by the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, is being held under the technical supervision of the Sports Authority of India and national sports federations.

The second edition of Khelo India Beach Games 2026 is seeing over 1100 participants compete in eight different sports — volleyball, soccer, sepaktakraw, kabaddi, pencak silat, Open water swimming, mallakhamb and tug-of-war. The first six will be medal sports and 32 gold medals are up for grabs.

The hosts, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, had opened their gold medal account in women’s Tunggal and would have been hoping to double that tally in women’s Ganda double. But Simran, who suffered a knee injury during the semifinals, had different plans.

The Punjab Police employee, who had won the bronze medal in Tunggal on Tuesday, teamed up with Sonia to win the final against Anushka and Anshu 555-537 on Wednesday. In the men’s final, Premchandra Yengkhom and Wahengbam Sudhir Meetei defeated Tamil Nadu’s Bose Raja Guru and Selvakumar 555-536.

“This was the final. There was a chance of winning the gold, so I had to risk myself. Five years ago, I had an ACL tear and got operated. In the semifinals today, I had a meniscus injury and had to tape my knee to appear in the final. But all’s well that ends well, and we managed to get a gold for Chandigarh,” said Simran, who had represented India in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

After three days of competition, hosts Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu with one gold, two silver and one bronze medal lead the medal tally. Chandigarh, Manipur and West Bengal also have won one gold each.

In KIBG 2026 Beach Soccer, defending champion Odisha women sealed their semi-final berth with an 8-4 win over Arunachal Pradesh in Group A while Kerala achieved their goal of making it to the last four in men’s event with a 7-0 win over Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in their second match.

In Beach Sepaktakraw which started on Wednesday, Manipur women were assured of a semi-final spot after beating Bihar 2-1 and Goa 3-0 in their group matches.

Hosts Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu lead the medals tally after three days of competition; Chandigarh, Manipur, West Bengal follow.

–IANS

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