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Maharashtra stayed on top as Wednesday, 16th January, had just four gold medals on offer, and all in shooting at the Khelo India Youth Games 2019. The four gold medals were shared by Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
So, Maharashtra with 64 gold, 51 silver and 62 bronze maintain their lead over Delhi who have 47 gold, 31 silver and 43 gold. Haryana, who won one of the four gold in shooting, lie third with 38 gold, 36 silver and 38 bronze.
The 19-year-old Gurnihal Singh Garcha, a son of a Ludhiana farmer, who has a skeet range on his farm, claimed the Khelo India Youth Games Under-21 skeet gold medal by raising his performance in the second half of the final. The ISSF World Championship junior bronze medallist was trailing Rajasthan’s 20-year-old Anantjeet Singh Naruka by a point earlier but then shifted gears and raced to a win.
The 20-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.
Darshana Rathore won the women’s Under-21 Skeet while at the 50m range, Tamil Nadu’s G. Varshaa made a telling statement, first with a resolute show with her rifle to win the girls Under-21 3-position gold. Varshaa scored 447.1 points. The fourth gold was picked up by the Haryana team in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed team event.
Mahak Jain enters final in Girls Under-21 tennis
In Girls Under-21 tennis, two-time National champion from Madhya Pradesh Mahak Jain beat her main rival Zeel Desai of Gujarat 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to enter the final. She will meet Mihika Yadav of Maharashtra who beat UP’s Kavvya Sawhney 6-3, 6-3.
In the Under-17 Boys final, Aryaan Bhatia of Maharashtra beat Sushant Dabas of Haryana 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 and he meets Gujarat’s Dev Javia, who beat his state mate, Krish Patel 4-6, 6-2, 7-6( 7-1).
Haryana meet Punjab in Girls Under-21 hockey semi-final
Haryana overran Chandigarh 8-0 and set up a semi-final clash with Punjab in the Girls Under-21 hockey competition. The highlight was Jyoti’s hat-trick. In the other league match, Punjab qualified despite a 2-2 draw.
Earlier Jharkhand and Odisha progressed to the semi-finals from Pool A.
In Girls Under-17, Jharkhand will meet Odisha and Haryana meets Punjab. The Under-17 semis are scheduled for Thursday, while the Under-21 semis will be played on Friday.
Fancied stars in medal round in boxing
In boxing, Maharashtra’s Mitika Gunele, Haryana’s Raj Sahiba and Manipur’s Babyrojisana Chanu justified their international reputation by comfortably entering into the semi-finals in the Girls under-17.
Mitika, a gold medalist of 7th Nations Cup in Serbia in 2018 got the better of Haryana’s Anu Rani 4-1 in welter (66kg) category while Raj Sahiba, a Khelo India and the Nations Cup gold medalist (2018) 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. Chanu is gold medalist of Junior Asian Championship and 7th Nations Cup held last year.
Among under-17 boys, Pune’s Akash Gorkha confirmed his medal by entering into last-four in the feather (57kg) category.
Three football semis and final in main KIYG Stadium
Meanwhile, the KIYG 2019 organising committee has decided to conduct six matches - three semi-finals and three finals - at the main stadium of the Shiv Chhatrapathi Sports Complex in Mhalunge-Balewadi. The semi-finals are scheduled for Thursday, January 17 followed by the finals on Friday.
As per the plan, the three semi-finals to be played at the main stadium include two in the Under-21 boy’s section one in the Under-17 boy’s section. Likewise, the three finals scheduled for Friday (January 18) are the Under-17 boys at 9 am, the Under 21 girls at 5 pm and the Under-21 boys final at 7.30 pm.
