Khel Vikas athletes reap rewards at district weightlifting competition

Sanatan Mallik executing his clean and jerk to perfection.

As the competition season goes on, so are the Khel Vikas (KV) athletes showing their domination in different sports. They bagged medals in all categories at Sunday’s Ganjam District weightlifting competition. 14 girls and 7 boys represented KV, in which 13 of them bagged medals. The competition consisted of sub-junior, junior and senior categories.

KV girls clinched twelve medals, dominating each category by a big margin. Firstly, in the sub-junior 44-kg category, the first two spots were clinched by the KV athletes. Namita Mallik bagged the gold and the silver went to Jyoti Badamundi. In the sub-junior 48-kg category, Pinky Naik clinched the first place and second place went to Pushpanjali Badamundi. In the sub-junior 53-kg category, Santilata Nayak, Kanchana Badamundi and Sukanti Majhi won the first, second and third place category. Finally, in the 58-kg category, Sitamani Hembram won the gold medal.

In the junior girls, Tukuni Badamundi and Archana Pradhan won the first and second place in the 48-kg category respectively. Baidehi Majhi also clinched gold in the 53-kg category, with the girls completing an overhaul of medals in all categories. Among the boys, Sanatan Mallik came first in the sub-junior 69kg category, successfully completing all 6 lifts. Additionally, most of the athletes recorded a personal best in the competition.

Tukuni Badamundi is all smiles as she receives the gold medal in the 48-kg category

A total of 12 athletes from KV who have clinched the first two spots have progressed to the state competition. The state competition will be hosted by Pro Sport Development (PSD) on the 22nd and 23rd of November, 2014. Close to 100 weightlifters are expected to participate in the state meet, consisting of national athletes from different districts of Odisha.