New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) Debutants Alphia James and Mandeep Kaur grabbed the spotlight with badminton gold medals in their respective categories, while Paralympic medallists also produced strong performances, securing top positions on the third day of the Khelo India Para Games here on Saturday.

By the end of the day, 88 gold medals in athletics, badminton and shooting had been decided.

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Overnight leaders Tamil Nadu led the medal tally with 19 golds while Haryana stood second with 14 golds. Rajasthan were third with 11 while Uttar Pradesh followed with 10 medals.

The focus was on badminton on day 3 as India's top para badminton players kept their dates with destiny in their respective categories at the Indira Gandhi Stadium.

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Paris gold medallist Nitesh Kumar, Tokyo gold medallist Krishna Nagar, Paris bronze medallist Manisha Ramdass and 13-time national champion Sanjeev Kumar emerged champions.

But it was Kerala's 21-year-old wheel-chair bound Alphia and Uttarakhand's Mandeep who won hearts as they secured a gold each in their respective categories.

A B. Com student, Alphia lost her father in 2010 and has been supported by her brother and mother ever since.

Having started as a basketball player, Alphia suffered a spinal cord injury in 2017. After almost five years, she resumed her sporting journey and started playing para badminton.

She made a golden debut at Khelo India Para Games after winning an event in Spain recently.

A three-time arm-wrestling national champion, Mandeep switched to badminton due to her love for the game and faced immense success in the sport.

Winning gold in her first-ever international tournament in Uganda, the 29-year old has now made a dream Khelo India

Para Games debut.

“It's a great feeling to win the gold and I'm really thankful to SAI and the government for organising KIPG. The key was to keep calm and that's what I did. I lost the first game and was trailing in the second at one stage but I pushed myself to make a comeback and eventually win the game,” said Mandeep.

Gold for Avani

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At the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Paris gold medallist Avani Lekhara continued her fine run in the women's 10m Air

Rifle securing the top position in standing SH1 category after narrowly edging out her Rajasthan teammate Mona Agarwal in the final.

Aakansha from Uttar Pradesh rounded off the podium with a score of 221.5.

This success came amid strong performances across other shooting events, with Maharashtra's Swaroop Mahavir Unhalkar and Kavin Vinod Kengnalkar claiming gold and silver, respectively, in the men's 10m air rifle standing SH1, separated by just 0.1 points.

Meanwhile, Haryana's Simran Sharma topped the podium in the mixed 10m air rifle standing SH2 category.

In archery competition at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Paralympics bronze medallist Sheetal Devi and promising newcomer Payal Nag both qualified for the finals.

While Sheetal doesn't have arms, Payal is another wonder athlete, competing without arms and legs.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)