Karnataka Dominates Khelo India Beach Games 2026 with Swimming Golds
Karnataka Shines at Khelo India Beach Games 2026
On January 10, at Ghoghla Beach in Diu, Karnataka's Ashmita Chandra and Dhrupad Ramakrishna secured gold medals in the women's and men's 5km Open Water Swimming events, respectively, propelling the state to the top of the medal tally during the Khelo India Beach Games 2026.
This year's Khelo India Beach Games, hosted by the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, was conducted under the guidance of the Sports Authority of India and various national sports federations.
The event saw over 1,100 athletes competing across eight sports, including volleyball, soccer, sepaktakraw, kabaddi, pencak silat, open water swimming, mallakhamb, and tug-of-war. Among these, the first six were medal events, with a total of 32 gold medals awarded. Participants hailed from 30 states and Union territories.
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Manipur emerged as the top three states, each securing three gold and two silver medals. The overall rankings were determined by the number of bronze medals earned by each state.
Karnataka led the standings with three gold medals, all from open water swimming, along with two silver and six bronze medals, thus claiming the overall championship in this second edition of the KIBG. Tamil Nadu followed closely in second place with three gold, two silver, and three bronze medals, while Manipur, the previous champions, finished third with three gold, two silver, and two bronze.
Madhya Pradesh secured fourth place, largely due to their performance in pencak silat, which offered the highest number of gold medals (16) at KIBG 2026. Their total medal count included three gold, one silver, and one bronze, all from this Indonesian martial art.
The hosts, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, finished sixth with a tally of two gold, two silver, and four bronze medals, just behind Haryana, who concluded the Games with two gold, four silver, and two bronze medals. Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Nagaland, and Rajasthan also each earned two gold medals, rounding out the top ten in the medal standings.
Before the final day's events commenced at Ghoghla Beach, Manipur was optimistic about defending their overall title, as both their men's and women's Beach Sepaktakraw teams had opportunities to win gold in the Trio category.
The women's team successfully achieved their goal by defeating West Bengal 2-0, while Tamil Nadu surged ahead to claim second place by winning the men's Trio final 2-1.
Ashmita Chandra also made headlines by winning the women's 5km Open Water Swimming gold, adding to her women's 10km title from the previous day. She completed the 5km race in 1:35:11, finishing ahead of Maharashtra's Diksha Yadav, who clocked 1:35:53, while Karnataka's Aasra Sudhir took bronze with a time of 1:39:14.
In the men's 5km race, Karnataka's Dhrupad Ramakrishna triumphed over Anurag Singh of Uttar Pradesh, who had won the 10km race, finishing just five seconds ahead. Dhrupad's time was 1:21:33, with Prashans HM contributing a bronze medal for Karnataka with a time of 1:24:34.
Today's Results:
Beach Sepaktakraw:
Women Trio: Gold – Manipur; Silver – West Bengal; Bronze – Goa, Assam
Men Trio: Gold – Tamil Nadu; Silver – Manipur; Bronze – Nagaland, Assam
Open Water Swimming:
Women 5km: Gold – Ashmita Chandra (Kar) 1:35:11; Silver – Diksha Yadav (Mah) 1:35:53; Bronze – Aasra Sudhir (Kar) 1:39:14
Men 5km: Gold – Dhrupad Ramakrishna (Kar) 1:21:33; Silver – Anurag Singh (UP) 1:21:38; Bronze – Prashans HM (Kar) 1:24:34 seconds.