Khelo India Youth Games: Delhi dominate judo ring; bag 12 gold medals

Delhi judokas proved to be a cut above the rest as the northern state ended up with 12 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze medals to top in the discipline at the Khelo India Youth Games in Pune. The closest to Delhi was Punjab, which won 4 gold, while Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and hosts Maharashtra bagged three gold medals each in judo at the Games.

Delhi’s dominance primarily came in the Under-17 and Under-21 girls’ section, where they won eight of the 12 gold medals at stake, a media release said. A shot in the arm for judo was that 22 of the 29 participating states won medals. According to the release, judo was dominated by the states from the north as nine states from the region won 22 gold, 17 silver and 24 bronze medals.

In comparison, states from the southern India could not muster even one gold.

However, the surprise pack was Kerala which cornered eight medals – two silver and six bronze. From the east, Manipur remained the flag-bearer with Youth Olympics silver medallist and Asian Championship gold winner Tababi Devi Thangjam (Below-52kgs) and Maibam Indubala Devi (Below78 kgs) leading from the front.

Interestingly, the surprise packet was Arunachal Pradesh, a wild card entry which won two silver medals via the individual effort of Kabin Doyom (Under 17 & Under-21 girls, Below-48kg) category respectively. They also had 2 bronze to their credit.

Maharashtra led the challenge from the West, picking up 3 golds, while Gujarat had two yellow medals and Rajasthan bagged one.

Swimmer Srihari Nataraj makes splash at Khelo; now eyes World C’ships 

Budding Karnataka swimmer Srihari Nataraj had a 100 per cent record at the Khelo India Youth Games, winning gold in each of the seven events he took part in the competition here.

At last year’s Khelo India School Games, Nataraj had won six gold medals and this time bettered his show. Another Karnataka swimmer who caught the eye was Likith SP, who ended his campaign at the Games with six medals, including five gold, a media release said Wednesday.

When asked about their friendship, the Karnataka boys, Likith and Srihari, said they always help each other improve as swimmers.

“I see great potential in Srihari and I am sure he will achieve big things in the time to come,” said Likith.

Having already represented India at the Youth Olympics and the Asian Games in 2018, Srihari will now turn his focus towards the World Championships to be held in South Korea later this year as he hopes to bring laurels to the country.

“I have a few important exams to finish now, after which I will begin my preparations for the World Championships,” Srihari was quoted as saying in the release.

Likith, like his friend Srihari, will be looking forward to the World Championships in July and will begin his preparation at the earliest.

Shooting: Gurnihal Singh Garcha makes splendid comeback to fetch gold 

Gurnihal Singh Garcha, ISSF World Championship junior bronze medallist, Wednesday claimed the Khelo India Youth Games Under-21 skeet gold medal by raising his game in the second half of the final that left others gasping in awe.

He closed in on the crown with a display that combined precision and calm. Having missed four birds in the first 30 shots, Garcha was trailing Rajasthan’s Anantjeet Singh Naruka by a point.

The puffs of wind and his rivals, who were eager to make a run for gold, did not seem to matter to him.

The 19-year-old, son of a Ludhiana farmer who has installed a skeet range in his farm, moved into a zone and shot the next 30 points down relentlessly to romp home as the winner, a media release said.

Twenty-year-old Naruka caught the eye with a good display in the first half, which he ended with 14 shots in a row. But after stretching that to 19 successive shots, he missed two in quick succession and lost his rhythm.

Abhay Singh Sekhon from Punjab grabbed the bronze. At the 50m range, Tamil Nadu’s G Varshaa made a telling statement with her rifle to win the girls Under-21 3-position gold.

The results (finals):

Boys under-21 Skeet:

1. Gurnihal Singh Garcha (Punjab) 56;

2. Anantjeet Singh Naruka (Rajasthan) 52;

3. Abhay Singh Sekhon (Punjab) 41.

Girls under-21 Skeet:

1. Darshana Rathore (Rajasthan) 49;

2. Simranpreet Kaur (Punjab) 44;

3. Pooja Vishwakarma (Madhya Pradesh) 37.

Girls under-17 50m Rifle 3-positions:

1. G Varshaa (Tamil Nadu) 447.1 points;

2. Shirin Godara (Haryana) 443.3;

3. Ayushi Podder (West Bengal) 432.8.

Mixed team 10m Air Pistol:

1. Haryana (Priya Raghav and Anmol Jain) 464.9 points;

2. Telangana (Esha Singh and Aga Mohammed Zainulabedin) 461.8;

3. Punjab (Arjun Singh Cheema and Pardeep Kaur Sidhu) 394.7.

Jyoti leads Haryana into semis of U-21 women’s hockey

Riding on striker Jyoti’s hat-trick, Haryana Wednesday defeated Chandigarh 8-0 for their third straight win to storm into the semi-finals of the Under-21 women’s hockey competition at the Khelo India Youth Games here.

Besides Jyoti, other goal-scorers for Haryana were Amandeep Kaur (2), Amrinder Kaur, Navneet Kaur and Manisha, a media release said.

In the other Pool B match, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh played out a 2-2 draw, but the former progressed to the semi-finals on better goal difference.

Late Tuesday, Jharkhand and Odisha had secured the top two places in Pool A respectively to progress to the last four.

Jharkhand finished with a tally of five points from three matches, while Odisha had three points.

In the semis, Jharkhand take on Odisha, while Haryana face Punjab. In the Under-17 category, it will be Jharkhand against Odisha in the first semi-final and Punjab versus Haryana in the second Thursday.

Mitika Gunele, Raj Sahiba, Babyrojisana Chanu enter semis of U-17 boxing

Maharashtra’s Mitika Gunele, Raj Sahiba of Haryana and Manipur’s Babyrojisana Chanu justified their international reputation by comfortably entering into the semi-finals of their weight categories in the girls under-17 boxing at the Khelo India Youth Games here Wednesday.

Mitika got the better of Haryana’s Anu Rani 4-1 in welter (66kg) category, while Sahiba defeated Haryana’s Divya after referee stopped the bout in 2nd round.

In the same category, Babyrojisana Chanu, a student of legendary Mary Kom, booked her place in the last four, a media release said.

Among under-17 boys, Pune’s Akash Gorkha confirmed his medal by entering into last-four in the feather (57kg) category. Akash Gorkha’s father Ramesh works as a watchman. Under the watchful eyes of coach Umesh Jagdale, Akash Gorkha excelled in the sport quickly and started performing at the state and national level tournaments.

He also won a silver medal in the 7th Asian Cup in Serbia. Aakash Gorkha, who is currently training with the Army Sports Institute, Pune, feels the training under Army coaches is too intense and surely played a role in his performance in the Khelo India.

“I don’t have to worry about anything. We just put ourselves best during the training and during the bouts. Thats what we have been told and I am following the same,” the young boxer was quoted as saying in the release.

Maharashtra’s Aryaan Bhatia, Mihika Yadav in race for tennis gold

Top seed Mahak Jain of Madhya Pradesh had to dig deep to get the better of Gujarats third seed Zeel Desai 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the Under-21 singles semi-final of tennis at the Khelo India Youth Games here Wednesday.

Jain will meet the unseeded Mihika Yadav of Maharashtra in the gold medal match in this category, a media release said.

In Wednesdays second U-21 girls semi-final, Mihika dumped the unseeded Kaavya Sawhney of Uttar Pradesh 6-3, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s Aryaan Bhatia produced a dominant performance to beat top seed Sushant Dabas of Haryana 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the boys U-17 singles final.

Dhruv Sunish and Girgi Pawar of Maharashtra also reached the semi-finals of the U-21 boys and U-17 girls’ events, respectively.

Results: U-17 boys singles semi-finals:Aryaan Bhatia (Mah) bt Sushant Dabas (Har) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2; Dev Javia (Guj) bt Krish Patel (Guj) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) U-21 boys singles quarter-finals:Paramveer Bajwa (Chd) bt Abhinav Sanjeev (TN) 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-3; Suresh Kumar Manish (TN) bt S Karteek Ganta (Tel) 6-1, 2-0 (ret.); Nitin Sinha (WB) bt Faisal Qamar (Raj) 6-1, 6-3; Dhruv Sunish (Mah) bt Eqbal Ishaque (WB) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

U-17 girls singles quarter-finals:Gargi Pawar (Mah) bt Anjali Rathi (Har) 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3; Prerna Vichare (Mah) bt S Pandithdyrai (TN) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); Priyanshi Bhandari (Guj) bt VanshikaChoudhari (UP) 6-2, 6-2; Lakshmi Reddy (AP) bt Sanjana Sirimalla (TS) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 U-21 girls singles semi-finals:Mahak Jain (MP) bt Zeel Desai (Guj) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Mihika Yadav (Mah) bt Kavvya Sawhney (UP) 6-3, 6-3.

Dominant Punjab cagers enter semis of U-17 basketball

Defending champions Punjab boys registered their second successive win to seal a berth in the semi-finals of the Under-17 basketball event at the Khelo India Youth Games 2019 here Wednesday.

Led by a 20-point effort by skipper Rajan, Punjab ended the challenge of hosts Maharashtra 72-48 in a Pool B encounter. The hosts thus bowed out of the event, a media release said.

In another encounter, Haryana brushed aside Tamil Nadu 81-58 to maintain their clean slate. Both Punjab and Haryana face-off in the last league encounter to decide the group winner.

From Group A, Rajasthan downed Madhya Pradesh 88-77. The race for the second spot in the group will be between Kerala and Karnataka, who had mixed results on day 2.

The Under-21 boys section had Kerala (Group-A), Punjab and Tamil Nadu (Group-B) booking their spots in the last-four, the release stated.

Results: Under-17, Boys Pool-A:Rajasthan bt Madhya Pradesh 88-77; Kerala bt Karnataka 82-73 Pool-B:Punjab b Maharashtra 72-48;Haryana bt Tamil Nadu 81-58.

Under-17, Girls Pool-A:Punjab bt Rajasthan 78-58 Under-21, Boys Pool-A:Kerala bt Maharashtra 75-72; Delhi bt Uttar Pradesh 89-73 Pool-B:Punjab bt Karnataka 101-56;Tamil Nadu bt Rajasthan 116-73.

Under-21, Girls Pool-A:Maharashtra bt Karnataka 80-74; Tamil Nadu bt Gujarat 79-36. Pool-B:Punjab bt Madhya Pradesh 75-67.