TVM retains overall champion title at Kerala State School Sports Meet, Malappuram dominates athletics

Kozhikode: Thiruvananthapuram has retained the overall championship at the Kerala State School Sports Meet in Kozhikode, sealing a historic hat-trick of titles. Capitalising on their sheer dominance in aquatics and team games, Thiruvananthapuram stormed to victory with a staggering total of 2012.3 points, bagged through 227 gold, 160 silver, and 171 bronze medals.

Thiruvananthapuram's final tally was more than double that of runner-up Thrissur, which finished second with 965.3 points (82 gold, 84 silver, and 116 bronze). Malappuram claimed the third spot overall with 923.3 points (86 gold, 83 silver, and 106 bronze). Thiruvananthapuram's unassailable lead was largely powered by their performances in games, where they amassed 1,310 points (151 gold, 92 silver, 106 bronze), and aquatics, where they gathered 606 points (66 gold, 57 silver, 52 bronze). However, the district took fourth place in athletics with 96.3 points (10 gold, 11 silver, 13 bronze).

In athletics, Malappuram district sealed a hat-trick victory of their own by topping the discipline with 204.3 points (19 gold, 23 silver, 19 bronze). Their victory was driven by stellar performances from Kadakassery Ideal EHSS and Alathiyur KHMHS. Palakkad finished second in athletics with 161.5 points (14 gold, 18 silver, 16 bronze), while Alappuzha secured third place with 109 points (10 gold, 9 silver, 12 bronze).

Kadakassery Ideal EHSS was crowned the top-performing school in athletics, accumulating 75.3 points (8 gold, 10 silver, 6 bronze) to claim the school title for the fifth time. Alathiyur KHMHS (4 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze) and Palakkad Vadavannur VMHS (5 gold, 3 silver) shared second place with 34 points each, while Alappuzha St Joseph's GHSS finished third with 31 points (3 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze).

In the sports hostel category, Thiruvananthapuram GV Raja Sports School emerged champions with 85.3 points (10 gold, 8 silver, 12 bronze). Thalassery SAI came second with 14 points (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze). Kottayam Bharananganam SH GHSS (1 gold, 2 silver) and Ernakulam Keerampara MA College Sports Hostel (1 gold, 2 silver) shared third place with 11 points each.

A total of 14 meet records were rewritten during this edition of the meet, including eight in aquatics and six in athletics. Despite enthusiastic crowds gathered at the newly built synthetic track at NIT Kunnamangalam, track performances fell short of expectations, yielding just six records compared to 17 set in the previous edition.

Trophies were distributed to the winners by Ministers Ramesh Chennithala and N Samsudheen, alongside Olympian Anju Bobby George and other dignitaries. The top three schools in athletics received cash prizes of ₹2.5 lakh, ₹1.75 lakh, and ₹1.25 lakh respectively. In the sports school category, the top three finishers were awarded ₹1 lakh, ₹75,000, and ₹50,000.