Leh, Jan 25 (IANS): Pranav Madav Surapaneni won Telangana’s second gold medal of the Khelo India Winter Games 2025, winning the ice-skating competition but all attention on Saturday was on the blockbuster ice-hockey league match between Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

With about 10 minutes left on the clock, Stanzin Mingure scored twice in succession to script a dramatic 3-1 victory for ITBP. Army’s defence collapsed in the third and final period of the contest, one of the greatest rivalries in Indian sports.

All roads on Saturday led to the 5000-capacity NDS sports complex for the Army versus ITBP ice-hockey match. Like always, the stands were full of Armymen, dressed in their olive green attire, backing their team in big numbers. But it was Mohammed Ismail who drew first blood for ITBP in the second minute of a match that often got a bit physical. Tsewang Dorjey drew level for the Army with a lovely flick in at the far post early in the second period, but the Indian Army, the defending champions, lost control in the third period and suffered their first loss of the Khelo India Winter Games 2025.

“The team's strategy worked perfectly, bringing us closer to securing the victory today. I managed to score a goal for the team and I am happy with that. The Khelo India Winter Games are being professionally managed and such an open environment encourages us to perform better,” said ITBP’s centre-forward Ismail said on Saturday.

After Nayana Sri Talluri on Friday, Pranav Madav Surapaneni won Telangana’s second gold in the skating competition. It came in the 500m short track for men at NDS. Maharashtra and hosts Ladakh also won their first skating gold medals on Saturday but it’s Telangana that leads the medal tally. Ishaan Darvekar skated to Maharashtra’s first gold medal of the skating competition by winning the 1000m short track event at the NDS. In a rather one-sided race, Darvekar clocked 2:02.33 secs ahead of teammate Vyom Sawant (2:04.90 secs) and Tiluck Keisam of Delhi, who timed 2:10.78.

At the end of Day 3 of KIWG, Maharashtra is third with a total haul of five skating medals (one gold, one silver, and three bronze) while Karnataka is second with three medals (one gold and two silvers), all from ice skating.

Schoolboy Surapaneni clocked 56.86 secs to win the 500m short track gold at the NDS complex. It was quite a tight race as Number 2 (Samrudh SD of Karnataka) and Number 3 (Sumit Tapkir of Maharashtra) were separated by microseconds.

“I feel like a bamboo tree, growing slowly but steadily reaching great heights. That's how I feel right now. I have all three medals: bronze in 2023, silver in 2024, and gold today, and I’m really proud of the accomplishment. The rink is natural, so there are bumps, and the high altitude makes it challenging, requiring intense focus on my breathing and pushing through the effort,” said the 15-year-old. “My main goal is the Olympics, but before that, there’s the world tour, the world championships, and the junior world championship. It’s a long journey ahead,” added Surapaneni.

It was a joy for hosts Ladakh at the Gupuks Pond. Shabana Zara (2:09.69 secs) and Tasniya Shamim (2:13.95 secs) made it a one-two for Ladakh in the 1000-metre-long track for women.

For 14-year-old Shabana, it was her first time winning gold at the Khelo India Winter Games, although she participated last year too. Tasniya tasted success in KIWG last year, winning gold, silver and bronze under different categories.