Manikanta's Golden Hat-Trick, Anushka's Silver at Khelo India Tribal Games

According to a release, there was also a reason for hosts Chhattisgarh to rejoice as local hope Anushka Bhagat added a second silver to her tally by finishing second in the women's 200m IM race.

Thirty states and Union Territories are participating in the inaugural edition of the Khelo India Tribal Games that is witnessing close to 3800 participants competing in nine sports disciplines. A whopping 106 gold medals are on offer across archery, athletics, football, hockey, swimming, weightlifting and wrestling, while traditional sports like Mallakhamb and Kabaddi are demonstration sports.

Manikanta, who had won the 100m Breaststroke and 50m Butterfly gold on Wednesday, continued to dominate the field as he won the 200m IM race with a time of 2:25.93s.

Tripura's Riyaj Tripura finished second with a time of 2:34.04s while Kanhu Soren (Odisha) won the bronze with a time of 2:36.21s.

Anjali, who had won the 200m freestyle gold on Wednesday, clinched the women's 200m IM gold with a time of 2:53.82s, with Chhattisgarh's Anushka Bhagat winning the silver with a time of 2:59.33s. The bronze medal went to Anjali Mallick of Odisha (3:06.13s).

Karnataka now lead the medals tally with six gold and two silver, while Odisha are second with three gold, one silver and four bronze medals.

In weightlifting competition, Assam's Monikha Sonowal and Mizoram's Isak Malsawmtluanga braved through injury concerns to come up with a solid performance to clinch weightlifting gold medals in the women's 48kg and men's 60 category, respectively.

Monikha came to the Khelo India Tribal Games carrying a knee injury while Malsawmtlunga had to fight through a niggling back injury to put their respective states on the medals table at the Pt. Ravishankar University Ground open ground.

Monikha dominated the women's 48kg event by lifting 57kg in snatch and 75kg in Clean & Jerk to clinch the gold medal with a total of 132 kg. Deepa Rani Mallik of Odisha (120kg) and Alaaska Aleena of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1116kg) bagged the silver and bronze respectively.

Monikha, who hails from Assam's Dhemaji district, had twisted her knee during training three months ago and the coaches were contemplating pulling her out of the Games but she overruled them.

"I was clear that I did not want to miss this event because I wanted to make a mark on the national stage and I am happy that I could perform under pressure," said the 19-year-old.

Mizoram's Malsawmtlunga had also suffered a back injury a month before the Games in training and that discomfort was still visible as he struggled to lift 108kg in Snatch in his third attempt and was in second place going into Clean & Jerk behind Odisha's Subrat Naik.

But he came into his own in Clean & Jerk and successfully lifted 130kg in his second attempt to assure himself a gold medal with a total of 235kg as Naik could only manage to lift 122kg in C&J to finish third with an aggregate of 228kg.

Jharkhand's Babulal Hembrom took home the silver medal with a total lift of 230kg.

Results

FootballMen:Group A: Chattisgarh drew with West Bengal 1-1Group B: Arunachal Pradesh bt Goa 2-0SWIMMING

Women:200m IM: Gold - Anjali Munda (Odisha) 2:53.82s; Silver - Anushka Bhagat (Chattisgarh) 2:59.33s; Bronze -Anjali Mallick (Odisha) 3:06.13s

Men:200m IM: Gold - Manikanta L (Karnataka) 2:25.93s; Silver - Riyaj Tripura (Tripura) 2:34.04s; Bronze - Kanhu Soren (Odisha) 2:36.21sWeightlifting

Women:48kg: Gold - Monikha Sonowal (Assam) 132kg; Silver - Deepa Rani Mallik (Odisha) 120kg; Bronze - Alaaska Aleena (Andaman and Nichobar Island) 115kg53kg: Gold - Jhilli Dalabehera (Odisha) 160kg; Silver - Kiuchangliu Gangmei (Manipur) 160kg; Bronze - Larityngkai Lawriniang (Meghalaya) 132kg

Men:60kg: Gold - Isak Malsawmtluanga (Mizoram) 235kg; Silver - Babulal Hembrom (Jharkhand) 230kg; Bronze - Subrat Naik (Odisha) 228kg.

- ANI