Haryana wrestlers steal the show

Panchkula, June 8

Riding high to their advantage, Haryana wrestlers stole the show in the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) by winning four of the five gold medals at stake at Tau Devi Lal Stadium here today.

The hosts collected two more gold in track and field to take their overall tally to 30 gold, 23 silver and 33 bronze to surge past Maharashtra (26 gold 25 silver, 22 bronze), who manage a solitary gold, today.

Hisar girl proves too strong for opponents

Antim, who was seconds away from beating 2018 Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat during the Commonwealth Games trials, dominated the girls’ 53kg category to clinch her second Khelo India gold in three years. Her parents wanted her (their fifth daughter) to be their last. But she has made it a habit of finishing first every time she enters a competition. The Hisar girl proved too strong for her opponents, winning three bouts by technical superiority and one by a fall. In the final, she did face a determined Maharashtra’s Kalyani Gadekar, but sailed through on her tactical acumen. “I am happy that I am performing consistently and looking forward to next month’s Asian U-20 Championships,” she said.

The other three gold for Haryana were bagged by Pulkit (girls’ 65kg), Sahil (boys’ 92kg) and Sagar Jaglan (boys’ 80 kg), taking their wrestling tally to 16 gold, 10 silver and nine bronze. Maharashtra, meanwhile, were a distant second with three gold medals – Vaibhav Patil adding the boys’ 55kg crown to their tally. Madhya Pradesh and Chandigarh wrestlers won one gold medal each.

Haryana weightlifter Jyoti shines

In other events, Haryana weightlifter Jyoti Yadav clinched the gold medal in the girls’ 76kg with a total lift of 178. Assam’s Suditya Baruah (boys’ 89kg) and Punjab’s Dilbag Singh bagged other gold medals on offer from the weightlifting arena. In the boys’ 89kg, Baruah claimed the top position by lifting 284kg, followed by Lal Basheer (276kg) at the second position and Sanover (261kg) at the third. In 96kg, Dilbag (295kg), Punit Sahu (278kg) and Rahul (276kg) claimed top three positions.

In the girls’ 76kg event, Jyoti Yadav (178kg), P Dhathri (164kg) and Pratiksha Kadu (159kg) claimed top three positions, while in the 81kg, Ch Srilakshmi (184kg), Amritha P Suni (172kg) and Aayushi Gajjar (164kg) shined.

Mohit bags 110m hurdle gold

Haryana’s Mohit clocked 13.62s to take home gold medal in the boys’ 110m hurdle race. Madhvendra Shekhawat (13.66s) and Graceson (13.68s) were other two winners. “I missed claiming the gold medal in the last Khelo India Games. I am happy to win it this time. I am the first athlete of my family and it’s really tough to maintain a balance between good diet and medal-winning performance,” said Mohit. In triple jump event, Selva Prabhu (15.65s), Akhilesh (15.24s) and Vishal Kumar (14.98s) won top three positions, while in discus throw Punjab’s Shubhkarman Ghotra (60.76s), Sumit Kumar (56.74s) and Anurag Patil (55.15s) claimed podium positions.

Deepika’s national record in javelin throw

Haryana’s Deepika set a national record with a javelin throw of 51.37m, Ramyashree Jain (47.84m) and Sakshi (44.26m) claimed second and third position.

Highlights

• In March 2021, Jharkhand created history by winning the 11th Hockey India Sub-Junior Men’s National Championship. In the ongoing KIYG, Jharkhand boys, who belong to a humble background, reached in semi-finals
• Kalyani Gadekar from Maharashtra won silver medal in the 53kg category. Her father, a wrestling fan, wanted Kalyani to become a wrestler. Their tiny village, Jaipur, in Washim district of Vidarbha didn’t have a single coaching centre. Her father had donned the mantle of coach and trainer because there were no coaches in their district.
• Andhra Pradesh (AP) medallists Rajitha, Pallavi and Sireesha, who belong to poor background, won several hearts. Rajitha sprinted to gold in the girls’ 400m, while Sireesha took the bronze behind her. Pallavi, then, lifted the first gold for AP in the 64kg category.

Results

Athletics Girls

• 100M hurdles: Unnathi B (14.00s), Namayi Ruchitha (14.28s), Pranjali Patil (14.38s)
• Discus throw: Kiran (48.21s), Arshdeep Kaur Khangura (44.92s), Anisha (43.91s)
• High jump: Khyati Mathur (1.73m), Sinchana MS (1.70m), Pavana Nagaraj (1.70m)
• Triple jump: Poorva Sawant (12.69m), Nimisha Dayma (12.04m), Abinaya Sri A (11.68m)

Wrestling Boys

• FS 55kg: 1st Vaibhav Patil, 2nd Surender, 3rd Shravan Kaushal & Amit
• FS 80kg: 1st Sagar Jaglan, 2nd Praveen Kumar Yadav, 3rd Bobby Chahar & Mukul D
• GR 92kg: 1st Sahil, 2nd Vishal, 3rd Navneet & Anil

Girls

• 53kg: 1st Antim, 2nd Kalyani Gadekar, 3rd Aarti & Manjeet Kaur
• 65kg: 1st Pulkit, 2nd Anjali, 3rd Pallavi Potphode & Varsha