Good Services a class apart on penultimate day

Services stamped their authority with seven gold on the penultimate day of the National Games as they left their rivals behind in the race.

Services continued their dominant march on the top with five gold coming from canoeing and kayaking as they totalled 69 gold, 50 silver and 42 bronze. Manipur held on to their second position with 48-37-33, while Haryana (42-33-40) displaced Maharashtra (39-43-46) from the number three spot with most medals coming in wrestling. Hosts Jharkhand had another fruitful day as they bagged six gold to jump to fifth with 33-24-37.

Punjab lift hockey gold
Punjab defeated Jharkhand 2-0 in a scintillating men's hockey final on Friday. After surviving a flurry of attacks from the hosts, Ravi Pal and Sarvanjit Singh struck in the 55th and 64th minutes against the run of the play to give Punjab the gold. Jharkhand came close to scoring in the 59th minute when Mathias Minz gave a cross to Inocent Kullu who failed to connect.

Haryana win 14 gold in wrestling
Haryana grapplers finished on top in the three-day wrestling competition as they added another five gold on the final day to take their tally of the yellow metal to 14. Amit Kumar (66 kg freestyle), Vinod (55 kg freestyle), Nirmla (Women's 48 kg freestyle), Rajendra Kumar (55 kg Greco-Roman) and Dharmendra (120 kg. Greco-Roman) won the five gold.