The battle for supremacy in the Khelo India Youth Games 2021 began in right earnest, with defending champions Maharashtra surging into the lead early in the morning with 9 gold medals here on Sunday, June 5.
But by late evening, hosts Haryana clawed back into the race, picking up a total of 6 gold to take the second position. They have already garnered the most number of medals though, capturing 23 (5 gold, 6 silver, 12 bronze) to Maharashtra’s 17 (9 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze).
On a day full of action and exciting twists and turns, two new youth national records were also created in weightlifting.
Maharashtra expectedly bagged 3 out of 4 gold on offer in weightlifting, and also 3 in yoga and 1 in cycling while Haryana underlined their dominance on the wrestling mat, gobbling up all five gold up for grabs, and 1 in cycling.
Manipur shot to the third place in the medals tally, annexing 4 gold medals in Thang-ta, an indigenous sport added to the Khelo India program for the first time.
Maharashtra’s Kajol Sargar (women’s 40kg) pocketed the first medal of the Games, lifting a total of 113 kg (50kg in snatch and 63 in Clean and Jerk). Her state-mate Harshada Garud then rewrote the Youth National Record in the women’s 45kg category as she overcame a stiff challenge from Uttar Pradesh’s Anjali Patel.
With both lifting 80kg in clean and jerk, it all boiled down to their third and final lift. Garud lifted 83 kg in her second attempt itself to etch her name in the record books while Anjali failed even in her third.
Earlier, L Dhanush of Tamil Nadu bagged the Boys 49kg gold medal with a new Snatch record of 88 and an overall lift of 190 kg.
Haryana began their medal charge at the cycling velodrome in Delhi as Vrinda Yadav bagged the gold medal in the Girls 7.5kg Scratch Race.
The hosts were banking on making a clean sweep of gold medals on the wrestling mat and Ronit Sharma did not disappoint, opening their account in the Boys Greco-Roman 51 kg category when he defeated state-mate Rahul.
Sahil Jaglan scored a convincing 10-0 win over Robinpreet Singh of Punjab in the Freestyle 92 kg.
Jyoti completed the clean sweep by defeating Maharashtra’s Pragati Gaikwad by technical superiority in the Girl’s 57kg weight category.
Action continued in kabaddi, hockey, volleyball, gymnastics and badminton.
With a single-sided victory of 13 points against Tamil nadu, Maharashtra girls prove their supremacy to reach at the finals in the 4th Khelo India Youth Games. They claimed a loan over the opponents within the first four minutes of the match. The boys' squad gave a tough fight to UP but had to face defeat in the semifinals.
Maharashtra displayed supremacy in the tournament being played at Tau Devidas Sports Complex, Panchkula, Haryana. With the brilliant win by the captain Harjeetkaur Sandhu and other teammates named Yashika Pujari, Manisha Rathod and Anuja Shinde, the girls gathered points in the game with skilled based tackles. The first half was resolved in 18-13 on the scoreboard. However, the Maharashtra girls sharpened their attack and by never letting the opponents' attempts to gain bonus points, they simply thrashed them to seal the victory by claiming all-out thrice in the second half.
Boys' tough fight in vain
The boys' Kabaddi squad faced a defeat against Uttar Pradesh in a thought fight by merely 4 points. Now all eyes are set on their clash against Haryana, both being equally strong teams. Maharashtra boys recovered from the trail, but the attacking opponents did not let them take a lead. The scoreboard was showing 30-30 when two super raids by the UP boys turned the match away from Maharashtra's grip. With UP the match slipped the pit of Maharashtra's hands, ending in 41-37.
Coach Kamble's birthday gift to husband
Maharashtra Girls Kabaddi team Coach Ms Gita Sakhare Kamble has led the girls' squad to the finals by winning all the matches in the league stage. Her husband Chandrakant Kamble works as the Co-director in the Sports Department of Maharashtra and is celebrating his birthday today, along with the Maharashtra contingent on Haryana. Today's victory has proved to be a birthday gift to him, which was celebrated on the field immediately after the match.
Darshan proceeds towards a medal in badminton
Maharashtra's Darshan Pujari continues his victory streak. Darshan won the first set with 21 points while his opponent, Sarvesh Ekal of Pondicherry scored only 6 points. Darshan took a heavy lead in the second half but committed a few faults, resulting in 15-15 against Sarvesh. But Darshan soon made a comeback and won the set 21-16. Sarvesh made him struggle for every point but in the end, Darshan sealed the victory. He is to play in the semifinals this very evening.
The daughter of a tea stall vendor, Kajol Sargar’s only connection with sport until three years ago was her daily visits to a local gymnasium to watch her elder brother Sanket train as a weightlifter.
The 16-year-old from Sangli in Maharashtra also watched in awe as he steadily rose up the ranks to become one of India’s top lifters; but that didn’t inspire her enough to take up the sport.
All that changed in 2019, when she saw Rupa Hangandi, also from Sangli, clinching the gold medal in the Khelo India Youth Games in Pune.
“My brother is more than five years older than me. I never really talked sport with him before,” Kajol Sargar said after becoming the first gold medallist in the Khelo India Youth Games 2021 here on Sunday.
“It was only after learning about Rupa Hangandi’s success in the Khelo India Youth Games that I felt that I should also try weightlifting,” she revealed.
Kajol, who now trains under Mayur Sinhasane, lifted a total of 113 kg in the women’s 40kg category to kick-off Maharashtra’s march towards the top of the medal’s tally.
Kajol only managed 50kg in snatch in her third attempt to fall behind Assam’s Rekhamoni Gogoi, who lifted two kilograms more going into clean and jerk.
But she lifted 60kg and 63kg in the clean and jerk to jump to the top of the podium. Rekhamoni (109 kg; 52kg snatch, 57kg clean and jerk) slipped to third as Arunachal Pradesh’s Sandiya Gungli bagged the silver with a total of 111 kg (47kg snatch, 63kg clean and jerk).
Kajol had won a bronze medal in the Youth Nationals in August 2021 in Patiala but a wrist injury earlier this year forced her to rework her targets for the year.
“I was trying to lift 70kg during training and got hurt. I was out of action for over two months and even missed out on the Nationals in Bhubaneshwar in March. This title is an important milestone in my three-year journey and would inspire me to work harder,” she added.
RESULTS - MEDAL EVENTS:
Wrestling
Boys
92kg Freestyle: 1. Sahil Jaglan (Haryana), 2. Robinpreet Singh (Punjab), 3. Manish (Delhi), 3. Deepak Chahal (Delhi)
51kg Greco Roman: 1. Ronit Sharma (Haryana), 2. Rahul (Haryana), 3. Kapil Dalal (Haryana), 3. Davinder Singh (Punjab)
60kg Greco Roman: 1. Ankit (Haryana), 2. Ashish Mor (Haryana), 3. Varun (Delhi), 3. Ravi Kumar (Haryana)
Girls
46kg: 1. Tannu (Haryana), 2. Sneha (Haryana), 3. Gauri (Maharashtra), 3. Anshika Khoker (Uttar Pradesh)
57kg: 1. Jyoti (Haryana), 2. Pragati Gaikwad (Maharashtra), 3. Anjali (Haryana), 3. Dhanashri Fand (Maharashtra)
Weightlifting
Boys - 55kg
1. Mukund Aher (Maharashtra), 2. Chera Tania (Arunachal Pradesh), 3. Raja Bharti (Chhattisgarh)
Boys - 49kg
1. L. Dhanush (Tamil Nadu) *NR, 2. D. Veeresh (Andhra Pradesh), 3. Vaibhav Swami (Uttar Pradesh)
Girls - 45kg
1. Harshada Garud (Maharashtra) NR*, 2. Anjali Patel (Uttar Pradesh), 3. Vani Puri (Punjab)
Girls - 40kg
1. Kajol Sargar (Maharashtra), 2. Sandiya Gungli (Arunachal Pradesh), 3. Rekhamoni Gogoi (Assam)
Girls 49 kg: 1. Gyaneshwari Yadav (Chhattisgarh), 2. V. Rithika (Tamil Nadu), 3. V. Madhumitha (Pondicherry)
Cycling
Boys
10 kms Scratch Race: 1. Mahendra Saran (Rajasthan), 2. Adwaith Sankar (Kerala), 3. Ravi Singh (Haryana)
1 KM Time Trial: 1. Sampath Pasmel (Karnataka), 2. Warishdeep Singh (Punjab), 3. Niraj Kumar (Haryana)
Team Sprint: 1. Rajasthan, 2. Manipur, 3. Punjab
Girls
7.5 kms Scratch Race: 1. Vrinda Yadav (Haryana), 2. Pooja Danole (Maharashtra), 3. Reet Kapoor (Chandigarh)
500 Mtrs Time Trial: 1. Sadnya Kokate (Maharashtra), 2. Celestina (Andaman & Nicobar), 3. Kavita (Haryana)
Team Sprint: 1. Andaman & Nicobar, 2. Maharashtra, 3. Haryana
Yogasana
Boys
Traditional (Individual)
Sumit Dilip Bandale (Maharashtra), 2. Rajdeep Dalal (West Bengal), 3. Deepanshu (Haryana)
Artistic (Pair)
1. Aryan Kharat, Nibodh Patil (Maharashtra), 2. Sayan Debnath, Avarjit Saha (West Bengal), 3. Sagar Ranga, Jeetu (Haryana)
Rhythmic (Pair)
1. Nanak Abhang, Ansh Mayekar (Maharashtra), 2. Kavikumar, Abinesh Kumar B. (Tamil Nadu), 3. Gourav, Parbhat Kumar (Haryana)
Girls
Artistic (Pair)
Vaidehi Mayekar, Yuganka Rajam (Maharashtra), 2. Shreya Bhattacharjee, Naisha Sarkar (Jharkhand), 3. Dharshini M., Oviyea C. (Tamil Nadu)
Traditional (Individual)
1. Aranya Hutait (West Bengal), 2. Tanvi Redij (Maharashtra), 3. Manvi Vyas (Haryana)
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