Proud hosts Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu showcase their pencak silat prowess at Khelo India Beach Games 2025

The Indonesian martial art is thriving in the Union Territory thanks to a bunch of passionate coaches and athletes.

Khel Today Bureau

Diu: Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu had a terrific day on Tuesday in pencak silat as they won three gold out of a possible eight in Khelo India Beach Games 2025 (KIBG) at Diu’s Ghoghla Beach.

Prasanna Bendre, Kirtana Manojkumar Acharya and Princess Thomas were the gold-haulers for the hosts in the Tunggal Senior Male, Tunggal Senior Female and Creative Solo Female respectively. Prasanna, one of the renowned athletes in the region, also pulled in a Ganda Senior Male pair bronze in the company of Sudhanshu Srivastava.

But it was not something that happened out of the blue. The entire contingent had put in a lot of effort in the lead-up to the event. In fact, they had been putting in effort for some years now in the leadership of husband-and-wife coaches Alexander Thomas and Philia Thomas to be a force to reckon with in the sport. Princess is actually their daughter.

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Alexander has been coaching in Daman for the last 20 years and he thinks pencak silat has the potential to become big in the UT. “It’s very popular here and we can safely say that this is the only sport in the region where medals have been won consistently at international level. For a small region, I think the sport is doing very well and I am optimistic about its future here,” he said.

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Prasanna Bendre is the most decorated athlete from the region. In the last three years, he has some tasted extraordinary success at the international level. In the Asian Championship in Jammu and Kashmir in 2022, he won a silver. Two years later in 2024, he picked up two bronzes in very prestigious competitions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the Asian Championship and the World Championship respectively. In the same World Championship, Princess also secured a bronze.

Prasanna, who has studied English literature, is a shy, quiet man. Even after winning a gold on Tuesday, he struggled to pull off a smile. That kind of person he is. Grounded and self-effacing. When asked what his secret was in terms of picking up one medal after another, he said. “I would say my secret is consistency. I practice very hard without fail in the guidance of both our coaches and the results follow.”

Princess is the totally opposite. She speaks her mind and has no filters. She discusses the challenges the sport is facing. “We as athletes need viable career options. At present, a lot has to happen. The government really has to a do a lot, make pencak silat a lucrative sport. The onboarding of Khelo India is great news but a lot more is required,” she said.

Kirtana too welcomed the platform that the Khelo India Beach Games have provided. “I am very happy to win gold. I have practiced hard. I am very thankful to this platform for giving us this opportunity to showcase our potential. Pencak silat is going is to be elevated here thanks to this platform. The participation will eventually increase,” she said.

The Pencak Silat competition, which ends on Friday, has most golds on offer across all six contested sports at the KIBG. It’s played across five categories: Tanding, group regu, ganda (involves two participants), solo creative and tunggal. Only tanding involves fighting with other teams, while the rest of them fall under “artistic” and are performative in nature.

Brief results: 

Solo Creative Senior Male: Gold: Aaryan with score of 560 (Punjab), Silver: Sohil Gurung, 542 (Odisha), Bronze: Vaibhav Valmik Kale, 541 (Maharashtra) and Kevin, 525 (Nagaland)

Tunggal Senior Female: Gold: Kirtana Manojkumar Acharya with score of 408 (Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu), Silver: Bhoomikajiten Drajain, 397 (Madhya Pradesh), Bronze: Edwina Lhinghoithem Hanghal, 387 (Nagaland) and Dolly Leishangthem, 380 (Manipur)

Tunggal Senior Male: Gold: Prasanna Narendra Bendre with score of 420 (Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu), Silver: Raja Das, 397 (West Bengal), Bronze: Ravees Ahmad, 391 (Jammu and Kashmir) and Krishna Narsing Panchal, 382 (Maharashtra)

Ganda Senior Female: Gold: Riya Rajesh Chavan and Prajakta Prabhakar Jadhav with score of 555 (Maharashtra), Silver: Thokchom Benao Chanu and Thingbaijam Dayalakshmi Chanu, 552 (Manipur), Bronze: Dechamma Sudaiah and Rishitha G, 542 (Karnataka) and Sunali Mochahari and Sabita Muchahary, 509 (Assam)

Ganda Senior Male: Gold: Sinam Jeevan Singh and Sinamchingkhe I Singh with score of 566 (Manipur), Silver: Sachin Ajinath Garje and Ramchandra Deepak Badak, 545 (Maharashtra), Bronze: Prasnna Narendra Bendre and Sudhanshu Srivastava, 523 (Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu) and Sonu Semlia and Rahul SA, 522 (Odisha)

Regu Senior Female: Gold: Muskan, Mitali and Shital with score of 553 (Delhi), Silver: Avikali V Sheqi, Hinokali and Dausanliu Rentta, 507 (Nagaland), Bronze: Mehroj Aktar, Piyu Das and Basundhara Tandi, 507 (Odisha) and Pinky Kol, Anushreee Kushwaha, Vishakha Kol, 503 (Madhya Pradesh)

Regu Senior Male: Gold: Sinamchingkhei Singh, Sinam Jeevan Singh, Yaikhom R with score of 537 (Manipur), Silver: Vaibhav Valmik Kale, Anshul Arun Kamble and Omkarabhan, 530 (Maharashtra), Bronze: Rabindra Bhatra, Asutosh Pujari, Genesh Pujari, 524 (Odisha) and Jon, Altab Uddin Choudhury and Kevin, 518 (Nagaland)

Solo Creative Senior Female: Gold: Princess Thomas with score of 567 (Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu), Silver: Dishareddy, 551 (Madhya Pradesh), Bronze: Kirnakshi Kishor Yewale, 533 (Maharashtra) and Eloma Subba, 528 (Sikkim)

For more on Khelo India Beach Games 205 : https://beach.kheloindia.gov.in/

For Khelo India Beach Games medal 2025 tally: https://beach.kheloindia.gov.in/medal-tally

ON KHELO INDIA BEACH GAMES

This is the first Beach Games conducted under the Khelo India banner. The Games are being held under the vertical of sports competition and talent development of Khelo India Scheme from May 19 to May 24, 2025 in Diu, UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. This initiative aims to promote beach sports and to enhance the reach and popularity of the Beach Games. In this edition, there are six medal sports: Beach Soccer, Beach Volleyball, Beach Sepak Takraw, Beach Kabaddi, Pencak Silat and Open water swimming. Two (non-medal) demonstration sports: Mallakhamb and Tug of war have also been included in Diu.