Guwahati: Karnataka’s Rehan Poncha and Richa Mishra of Delhi not only splashed their way to 17 (collectively) gold medals at the 33rd National Games that concluded here on Sunday evening, but also took away the honours of being adjudged the best sportspersons of the mega event.

While Poncha was adjudged the Best Male Athlete, the Best Female Athlete award of the 10-day meet went to Mishra.

The race for the highest individual medal winner was decided only on Saturday, with Poncha pipping Mishra at the post.

Overall, Poncha struck a haul of nine gold, six of which are individual, three silver and three bronze, while Mishra collected eight individual gold, three silver and one bronze.

The duo was the star attraction of the meet along with Assam’s promising Fariha Zaman, drawing crowds by the hordes to the newly-built Zakir Hussain Aquatics Complex.

The Games saw 20 records being sunk, three more than in the Hyderabad edition, but Shikha Tandon’s mark of 10 medals in the last edition of the Games stayed intact.