KIUG 2021: Ann Mariya topples National record; Jain University stay top of medal table

Bengaluru, April 27 (IANS) Five games records and one national record were broken on Day five at the Khelo India University Games 2021 here on Wednesday.

Day five at the Khelo India University Games 2021 (KIUG) offered 17 medals across five sports as Jain University tightened their grip on top spot in the medal table (G10, S4, B1) with 10 gold, four silver and one bronze medals.

By the end of the day, 63 universities had made their presence felt on the medal table, and 29 had already logged a gold. The day also saw an end to the weightlifting, basketball and badminton competitions.

The most eye catching of the day's performances came from the weightlifting arena, where a new national record was set in the +87kg women category. Mangalore University's MT Ann Mariya decimated the competition to win gold. The 24-year-old lifted 129kg to break Manpreet Kaur's clean and jerk record (128kg) set at the National Championships earlier this year.

Ann Mariya trains at the SAI National Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. Although she missed out on equalling her national record in the combined (231kg) set at the National Championships, Mariya was delighted to have bettered her personal best in the clean and jerk in Bengaluru.

The drama for the day though, started early, in the pool when Anna University set a new KIUG record en route gold in the Men's 4x100m Medley. Anna University had lost the 4x100m freestyle to hosts Jain University and in the aftermath, Danush Suresh had promised that the result in the medley would be different. The battle did not disappoint.

Jain University, who boasted Srihari Nataraj and Siva Sridhar in their ranks, led the race comfortably right till the anchor leg. Anna University's anchor, Adhithya Dinesh took the lead with a powerful swim and brilliant flip turn. Adhithya had suffered a hairline fracture in his back in January this year, and was on bed rest for three weeks. KIUG 2021 has proved to be a remarkable resurgent competition of sorts for him - he also won gold in the 50m butterfly yesterday.

Jain University also logged their first golds outside of the pool today, winning both the men and women team events in badminton. UV Shankar, the University's Director of Sports was ecstatic at the result and emphasised its importance fors the hosts. "The girls had won bronze and the boys had finished fourth at the All India Inter University, so we knew they had quality but there was added pressure," he said. "They reacted to the pressure in the perfect way. They've made the University very proud."

Two medals were available in mixed teams events at the shooting range. Savitribai Phule Pune University won gold in the mixed 10m Air Rifle the duo of Rasika Kulve and Gajanan Khandagale outshooting Manipal University's Manini Kaushik and Yash Vardhan to clinch gold. Gajanan also has a bronze from the 10m individual Air Rifle.

University of Madras won gold - their fourth at KIUG 2021 - in the women's basketball, beating SRM University 65-48.

Archery kicked off at the Jain Global campus today, with four qualification events on the schedule. A total of 22 Recurve Archers at KIUG 2021 - 10 women - are Khelo India Scholars.

Aditya Choudhary (Lovely Professional University) shot 661 to top the Men's Recurve. Punjabi University, led by Sangampreet Bisla topped the Men's Compound team. Punjabi University's women also topped the Women's Recurve team.

Rani Durgavati Vishwavidhyalaya's Muskan Kirar shot an impressive 692 to top the women's compound to soar to the top of the chart. Kirar is the top ranked woman in the competition and suffered heartbreak last time in the quarters. Her teammate Raginee Markoo, who won silver in Bhubaneshwar, was sixth in the qualification (678).

37 medals will be up for grabs on day five at the games. They will be in the men's and women's boxing, swimming and the judo competition.