Maharashtra emerge champions
CURTAINS Swimmer Srihari declared the best athlete, hosts finish with 228 medals as Manush TT gold ends Games
PUNE: The Khelo India Youth Games that started with UP’S Mohammed Rafey winning the boys U-17 all-around artistic gymnastics title on January 8 ended on Sunday with Gujarat’s Manush Shah finishing atop the U-21 men’s table tennis podium
After 12 days of action in which young athletes took centre-stage and broke several records , it was hosts Maharashtra who finished as the top team with 228 medals (85 gold, 62 silver, 81 bronze). Haryana with 178 medals (62 gold, 56 silver, 60 bronze) came second, followed by Delhi (136 -- 48 gold, 37 silver, 51 bronze). None of the other 33 competing states crossed the 90-medal mark.
Maharashtra topped the tally in eight of the 18 disciplines – archery, athletics, badminton, gymnastics, kho kho, table tennis, tennis and weightlifting – to cross the 200-medal mark.
Individually, it was Karnataka swimmer Srihari Nataraj who won the most medals. He competed in seven events in the U-21 category, winning all of them. The 16-year-old’s timing of 26.16 in 50m backstroke was a senior national record.
Nataraj’s state-mate Likith SP won six medals, five of them gold, from the pool. West Bengal gymnast Protishta Samanta, with three gold medals, was the third most successful athlete.
Addressing the athletes at the closing ceremony on Sunday, Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Human Resource Development, said: “What I see today is ‘new India’. We are planning to make one hour sport compulsory in schools in the coming time, which will help everyone.”
KERALA EDGE PAST TN
In one of the last events on Sunday, Kerala edged out Tamil Nadu 3-1 (21-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-20) in the boys U-21 volleyball final.
TN started strongly with solid blocking to take the first set. Kerala struck back in the second set with powerful smashes. They looked to be the better coordinated team but TN were not willing to give up easily. They gave a tough fight in the third set but lost 23-25, and Kerala didn’t let go from there.
In women’s U-21 final, Tamil Nadu defeated Kerala 3-2 (23-25, 11-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-9). In the U-17 boys final, Uttar Pradesh defeated Gujarat 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-23) while in the girls final, West Bengal beat Maharashtra 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-14).
HARYANA DOMINATE
Haryana beat Jharkhand 3-0 in the U-21 girls hockey final, while Punjab beat Odisha 2-1 for the third place. Haryana made all four hockey finals, winning three — girls U-21, girls U-17 and boys U-17, while finishing runners-up in boys U-21.
Haryana took lead in the 10th minutewithmahimachowdhary scoring. They struck again in the second quarter through Amandeep Kaur’s solo effort, and added another in the third quarter with Amandeep completing a brace. In the bronze medal play-off, Kajal’s twin strikes helped Punjab rally to beat Odisha 2-1. Rojita Kujur put Odisha ahead in the 18th min. Punjab had to wait till the last quarter to equalise with Kajal adding a second goal nine minutes from the final hooter.
ANITA CAUSES UPSET
In archery, in girls U-21 compound final, Jharkhand’s Anita Kumari beat Muskan Kirar of Madhya Pradesh, the Asian Games silver medallist in team event, 145-144. Muskan, however, was carrying a shoulder injury. In U-17, Isha Ketan Pawar (Maharashtra) beat Sanchita Tiwari (Delhi) 145-142.
The U-17 and U-21 boys’ compound finals were won by Delhi’s Ritik Chahal and Punjab’s Sangampreet Singh respectively. Chahal (Delhi) beat Prathamesh
We are happy to finish No 1. We will plan the education and also coaching and training of all the 228 athletes who have won medals for our state. VINOD TAWDE, Maharashtra sports minister
Samadhan Jawkar (Maha) 143142 while Sangampreet defeated Rahul (Haryana) 145-139.
Haryana archers Sachin Gupta and Paras Hooda won the U-21 and U-17 boys recurve finals respectively. Sachin beat B Dhiraj (Andhra Pradesh) 6-2 and Hooda defeated state-mate Rahul 6-4. In girls U-21 recurve, Maharashtra’s Sakshi Rajendra Shitole beat Suparna Singh (West Bengal) 6-0. In girls U-17, Jharkhand’s Komalika Bari defeated Maharashtra Haryana Delhi Karnataka Tamil Nadu
S85 62 81 228 62 56 60 178 48 37 51 136 30 28 19 77 27 35 25 87 Silver Bronze
Bstate rival Shaniya Sharma 6-2.
SURABHI, MANUSH WIN
In table tennis, Surabhi Patwari of West Bengal and Gujarat’s Manush Shah were the winners of U-21 category, both coming through 4-3. In an all-west Bengal final, Surabhi beat Kaushani Nath 11-8, 11-5, 10-12, 10-12, 11-7, 7-11, 16-14. In the boys final, Shah defeated West Bengal’s Anirban Ghosh 11-8, 7-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4.