Hosts Ladakh won their first gold medal of the Khelo India Winter Games 2026 when their women's relay quartet won the 2000 metres short track race at the Nawang Dorjay Stobdan (NDS) Stadium here on Saturday.
However, Haryana raced to two more gold medals from short-track skating to lead the medal standing with four golds overall. The biggest story of the day was Chandigarh beating Ladakh to enter the final of the men's ice-hockey competition.
The 5000 capacity NDS Stadium was overflowing when the men's ice-hockey semifinals began later in the day. In what was surely the 'final' before Monday's grand finale, Army defeated arch-rivals ITBP 2-0, with goals coming from Jigmat Kunzang in the 18th minute of the first (20-minute) period and Padma Norboo
in the sixth minute of the third period.
Army had beaten ITBP 2-1 in last year's final and Saturday's semifinal was fiercely contested with both teams indulging in body play. Kunzang and Norboo managed to break open the ITBP defence that looked leaky at times. The second goal ITBP conceded was a soft one as Norboo scored from a long-range push that beat the goalie.
In the second men's ice-hockey semis, unfancied Chandigarh stunned Ladakh 3-2 to enter the final against Army. Chandigarh came from a goal down to score three in a row through Gurtej Singh Bhatti (twice) and Unnatveer Singh to script an unbelievable victory. Earlier, Chandigarh women had won an ice-hockey bronze medal after beating Himachal Pradesh 4-3 in extra time.
Ladakh rise to No. 2 in medal tally
By virtue of winning the 2000m short track relay at the NDS, hosts Ladakh rose to the No. 2 position in the medal tally. The Ladakh quartet of Skarma Tsultim, Shabana Zara, Tasnia Shameem, Insha Fatima were simply too strong for the racers from Karnataka and Maharashtra, the only teams to qualify for the final. In a race full of flips and crashes, Ladakh too had falls, but came back strong to win gold.
Sachin Singh of Haryana was the toast of the day for Haryana. He first won the men's 500m short track sprint and then helped his state clinch the 3000 metres short track relay gold ahead of Karnataka (silver) and Himachal Pradesh (bronze). Sachin thus became the first skater in KIWG to win two gold medals.
"It's a great win for me today. This is the first time I've won a gold medal at the national level, and I'm proud to be representing Haryana. The best part has been the support from my coach, my managers, and the Haryana association. My managers, Deepak Kohar and (Kunal) Lohan ji, have supported me throughout this championship, and it means a lot to me," said 26-year-old Sachin to SAI Media. Sachin trains at the Youngsters Academy in Dehradun. "This gold medal is the result of everyone's hard work and support," he added.
Nayana's lucky ground
Khelo India Winter Games has always been a happy hunting ground for Telangana's Nayana Sri Talluri. The upcoming Telangana skater won her first gold of KIWG 2026 in the women's 500m short track on Saturday. It was the 17-year-old's fourth consecutive gold in 500m short course.
"It feels wonderful to have won again. I have been a hat-trick gold medallist at Khelo India Winter Games in 2025 and I have been in four consecutive years. I feel absolutely amazing right now. The other skaters were excellent and gave me very tough competition, which makes this achievement even more special. I'm really proud to have come here and achieved this milestone," said Nayana to SAI Media. She now trains in Canada and flew into Leh especially for these Games.
SATURDAY'S RESULTS
ICE SKATING FINALS
(Short track 500m men): 1. Sachin Singh (Haryana) 46.14 sec 2. Ishaan Darvekar (Maharashtra) 46.36 sec 3. Muthakani Vishnu Vardhan (Telangana) 47.31 sec.
(Short track 500m women): 1. Nayana Sri Talluri (Telangana) 50.49 sec 2. Schaleen Farnandes (Maharashtra) 51.44 sec 3. Anvayee Deshpande (Maharashtra) 51.53 sec.
(Short track relay 3000m men): 1. Haryana (Sachin Singh, Aarav Singhal, Jai Yadav, Rohit Kumar) 5:16.96 2. Karnataka (GV Raghavendra, Dheemanth Mahesh, Srivatsa S Rao, Omkara Yogaraj) 5:17.23 3. Himachal Pradesh (Kaushal Thakur, Divyansh Thakur, Samarth Attri, Ashutosh) 7:08.89 seconds.
(Short track relay 2000m women): 1. Ladakh (Skarma Tsultim, Shabana Zara, Tasnia Shameem, Insha Fatima) 3:49.23 secs 2. Karnataka (Srija S Rao, Sahasra Nellaturi, H Ramganesh, Shreedhanya P) 4:36.71. 3. Maharashtra - disqualified.
ICE HOCKEY
(Women's bronze medal match) Chandigarh beat Himachal Pradesh 4-3 in extra time.
Men's semis: Army beat ITBP 2-0; Chandigarh beat Ladakh 3-2.
