Khelo India Youth Games: Manush Shah wins TT title, Srihari, Maharashtra top medals table

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 several records were broken, 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 secs in 50m backstroke was a senior national record.

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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 before today is ‘new India’. We are planning to make one hour sport compulsory in schools in the coming time, which will help everyone.”

Maharashtra sports minister Vinod Tawde, said: “We are happy we (Maharashtra) are No 1 in the country. We will have one-to-one meeting with all 228 athletes who won medals for our state. I will plan their further education as all are students and also take care of their coaching and training.”

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 the lead in the 10th minute with Mahima Chowdhary scoring. They struck again in the second quarter through Amandeep Kaur’s solo effort, adding another in the third quarter with Amandeep completing a brace.

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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 minute. 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 Asian Games silver medallist Muskan Kirar of Madhya Pradesh 145-144, though the latter 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 Samadhan Jawkar (Maha) 143-142 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 state rival Shaniya Sharma 6-2.

Surabhi, Manush’s golden run

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.