Chhattisgarh Women's Football Clinches Gold at Khelo India Tribal Games

The Chhattisgarh women's football team secured the gold medal by defeating Jharkhand 1-0 in the final, thanks to a goal from captain Kiran Pisda. In athletics, Jharkhand's Shiv Kumar Soren completed a sprint double by winning the 200m gold, while Karnataka's Reethushree and Nagini also won their second gold medals of the Games. The archery events saw Jharkhand and Maharashtra claim top honors, with Maharashtra's Harshwardhan Ingle winning two gold medals. With one day remaining, Karnataka leads the overall medal tally, followed by Odisha and Jharkhand.

Key Points: Khelo India Tribal Games 2026: Chhattisgarh Wins Football Gold

  • Chhattisgarh women's football team wins gold
  • Shiv Kumar Soren wins 100m & 200m double
  • Karnataka's Reethushree & Nagini claim double golds
  • Jharkhand wins archery mixed team gold
  • Maharashtra's Harshwardhan Ingle wins two archery titles
5 min read

KITG 2026 Day 9 Round-up: Chhattisgarh clinch women's football gold

Hosts Chhattisgarh win women's football gold, while Shiv Kumar Soren, Reethushree, and Nagini shine in athletics on Day 9 of the Khelo India Tribal Games.

"It is a special moment for us... I am very happy that we could win the gold medal in front of our home crowd. - Kiran Pisda"

Raipur, April 2

The Chhattisgarh women's football team continued their solid run in the inaugural Khelo India Tribal Games 2026, aided by the individual brilliance of their captain Kiran Pisda, by defeating Jharkhand 1-0 in the final on their way to securing a gold medal.

The hosts also added the men's 4x400m relay silver and men's 1500m bronze to their overall tally on the penultimate day of track & field competitions in Jagdalpur. Further, Jharkhand's Shiv Kumar Soren completed a grand double by adding the 200m gold to his 100m triumph, as per a press release.

The Chhattisgarh women's team made the most of the solitary chance they got against the aggressive Jharkhand outfit when their captain pounced on a defensive lapse to score in the 61st minute, and then the host team held on to the advantage to clinch the title.

"It is a special moment for us because this is the first time so many fans came to support us and I am very happy that we could win the gold medal in front of our home crowd," said an elated Kiran, the only international player in the home squad.

30 States and Union Territories are participating in the first-ever Khelo India Tribal Games that is witnessing close to 3800 sportspersons compete in seven disciplines like archery, athletics, football, hockey, swimming, weightlifting and wrestling, while Mallakhamb and Kabaddi are demonstration sports.

In Jagdalpur, the last day of athletics competitions saw Soren and Karnataka's Reethushree and Nagini claiming their second gold medal on the athletics track at Kreeda Parisar complex.

Soren, who became the fastest athlete of the Games on Tuesday, clinched the 200m gold with a time of 21.51s. Earlier, Reethushree added the 200m gold to her 400m win with a time of 25.87s and then Nagini completed the women's 800m and 1500m double when she won the four-lap race in 4:43.87s.

Hosts Chhattisgarh added a silver medal in the men's 4x400m relay after finishing second behind Odisha. The winners clocked a time of 3:18.47s while the Chhattisgarh quarter finished with 3:19.26s. The bronze went to Jharkhand (3:19.62s).

Earlier, Manish Kumar bagged a bronze to boost Chhattisgarh's tally with an effort of 4:01.50s in the men's 1500 final. The gold went to Jharkhand's Rahul Oraon (4:01.18s) with Maharashtra's Kartik Karilharpal (4:01.23s) taking home the silver medal.

With just one day left for the curtains to fall on the inaugural edition of the Khelo India Tribal Games, hosts Chhattisgarh move up to ninth place with three gold, nine silver and six bronze medals.

With Reethushree and Nagini adding two gold medals to Karnataka's tally, the table toppers now have 23 gold, eight silver and seven bronze to show for their effort.

Odisha are second with 20 gold, 13 silver and 21 bronze, while Jharkhand consolidated their position with four gold medals from athletics and one from archery to take their tally to 14 gold, seven silver and 11 bronze.

Jharkhand's archery gold came through former world junior champion Komalika Bari and Krishna Pingua, who clinched the recurve mixed team crown, beating Odisha's Arjun Khara and Mamitaoram.

Maharashtra's Harshwardhan Ingle clinched the compound men's individual title and then added the compound mixed team crown, partnering Vaishnavi Pardeshi to take the state's tally to move to fourth spot in the overall standings with six gold, 10 silver and four bronze medals.

*RESULTS-ARCHERYWomenCompound Individual: Gold - Priya Banavath (Andhra Pradesh); Silver - Megha Besra (Jharkhand); Bronze - Vaishnavi Pardeshi (Maharashtra)

Compound Team: Gold - Meghalaya; Silver - Nagaland; Bronze - Jharkhand

MenCompound Individual: Gold - Harshwardhan Ingle (Maharashtra); Silver - Keshaba Banara (Odisha); Bronze - Sagar Raita (Odisha)

Compound Team: Gold - Meghalaya; Silver - Assam; Bronze - Odisha

Compound Mixed Team: Gold - Maharashtra; Silver - Andhra Pradesh; Bronze -- Jharkhand

Recurve Mixed Team: Gold - Jharkhand; Silver - Odisha; Bronze -- Nagaland

-ATHLETICSWomen200m: Gold - Reethushree (Karnataka) 25.87s; Silver - Anamika Oraon (Jharkhand) 26.13s; Bronze - Adhithya KM (Kerala) 26.67s

1500m: Gold - Nagini (Karnataka) 4:43.87s; Silver - Shakila Vasave (Maharashtra) 4:48.94s; Bronze - Sunita Santa (Odisha) 4:53.72s

10000m: Gold - Sanjita Oraon (West Bengal) 40:21.18s; Silver - Sandhya Murmu (Odisha) 41:17.79s; Bronze - Balarisha Thyrniang (Meghalaya) 42:29.41s

4x400m relay: Gold - Jharkhand 3:58.03s; Silver - Odisha 4:05.69s; Bronze - Maharashtra 4:11.90s

Long Jump: Gold - Priti Lakra (Jharkhand) 5.54m; Silver - Martina Lakra (Madhya Pradesh) 5.47m; Bronze - Mayuri Gamit (Gujarat) 5.42m

Men200m: Gold - Shiv Kumar Soren (Jharkhand) 21.51s; Silver - Arpan Tai (Assam) 22.38s; Bronze - Jagdish Meena (Rajasthan) 22.48s

1500m: Gold - Rahul Oraon (Jharkhand) 4:01.18s; Silver - Kartik Kariharpal (Maharashtra) 4:01.23s; Bronze - Manish Kumar (Chhattisgarh) 4:01.50s

10,000m: Gold - Wede Tmero (Nagaland) 32:28.46s; Silver - Kamlakar Deshmukh (Maharashtra) 32:42.29s; Bronze - Hans Raj (J&K) 32:54.98s

4x400m: Gold - Odisha 3:18.47s; Silver - Chhattisgarh 3:19.26s; Bronze - Jharkhand 3:19.62s

Javelin Throw: Gold - Gulab Singh (Madhya Pradesh) 62.80m; Silver - Promod Hagier (Assam) 62.30m; Bronze - Somnath Singh (Odisha) 58.05m

-FOOTBALLWomen's final: Chhattisgarh (Kiran Pisda 61') defeated Jharkhand 0Gold - Chhattisgarh; Silver - Jharkhand; Bronze - Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

S
Shiv Kumar Soren
As someone from Jharkhand, a bit disappointed we lost the football final, but massive congratulations to Chhattisgarh! Our athletes like Shiv Kumar Soren (great name, by the way! 😄) did us proud with the double gold. The competition is fierce and that's good for Indian sports.
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Aman W
Karnataka is absolutely dominating the medal tally! Reethushree and Nagini are superstars in the making. It's heartening to see so many tribal athletes get a national stage. Hope this leads to more support and training facilities for them at the grassroots level.
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Rohit P
The men's 1500m results show how competitive it is! Just 0.32 seconds between gold and bronze. Rahul Oraon, Kartik Kariharpal, and our own Manish Kumar from Chhattisgarh - all heroes. These games are proving that talent is everywhere, we just need to spot and nurture it.
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Michael C
Following from the US. Incredible to see the scale of this event - 3800 athletes! The focus on tribal communities is commendable. Kiran Pisda mentioning the home crowd support is what sports is all about. More power to initiatives like Khelo India.
K
Kavya N
While the games are a great step, I hope the media coverage is consistent and not just during the event. These athletes need sustained attention and funding. Also, would love to see more details about the demonstration sports like Mallakhamb and Kabaddi in future reports.

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