Maharashtra weightlifters improve showing

Guwahati: Maharashtra’s weightlifters Abhishek Suresh Nipane and Kiran Ravindra Marathe as well as the girls under-17 kho-kho team swept the first three gold medals on Sunday in the Khelo India Youth Games 2020 to increase their lead over Haryana in the medals table to 12 gold and 50 medals.

Maharashtra’s delight at the Bhogeswari Phukanani Indoor Stadium knew no bounds as  Abhishek Nipane, a bronze medal winner in the under-21 73kg class in Pune last year, and Kiran Marathe, silver medallist a year ago, both improved on their performances to increase Maharashtra’s collection of weightlifting gold to eight out of the 18 contested so far.

Manipur’s Chingkham Nirmala Devi (under-21) and Shandrella Huyam (under-17) claimed the 59kg class crowns late on Saturday to take their State to the 11th spot on the medals chart ahead of teams like Tamil Nadu and Punjab. Nirmala Devi turned the tables on last year’s winner Ditimoni Sonowal, denying the home State the gold while Shandrella Huyam beat back a challenge by Anai Wangsu (Rajasthan) and  Sanapathi Pallavi (Andhra Pradesh).

Meanwhile, Assam claimed two of the four Lawn Bowls gold medals late on Saturday evening to climb to the seventh spot in the medals tally. Sanzio Pandey and Abhilakh Handique, who formed the home State’s combination in the boys under-21 Pair event, and Suman Kumari Pandey and Suranjana Baruah, part of the girls under-21 Four squad, finished with two gold each.

Delhi girls Rajasvi Panver stunned Assam’s Adinita Kakati 21-19 in the girls under-21 singles final with a telling show of precision play. Their contest was so enthralling that spectators stayed back till pretty late in the evening to watch them showcase their skills. The Jharkhand boys under-21 Triple squad claimed the other gold with a hard-fought win against Delhi.

The results (all finals):

Kho-Kho

Girls under-17: Maharashtra beat Delhi by 6 points (9-4, 5-4). Bronze medals: Gujarat and Punjab.

Lawn Bowls

Boys under 21

Pair: Assam (Sanzio Pandey and Abhilakh Handique) beat Jharkhand (Abhishek Lakra and Yuvraj Kumar Singh) 18-9; Bronze medals: Bihar (Tauseef Ahmed and Harsh Raj) and Chandigarh (Abhishek and Prashant Gop).

Triple: Jharkhand (Rahul Kumar, Nishant Khalkho and Praveen Ekka) beat Delhi (Krishav Sharma, Vikram Rajak and Ayush Bhardwaj) 16-13;  Bronze medals: Assam (Scion Shiv Mahanta, Roktim Kashyap Kalita and Surajit Burhagohain) and West Bengal (Venkatesh Bagrodia, Parikishit Roy Chowdhury and Karan Chowdhary).

Girls under-21

Singles: Rajasvi Panver (Delhi) beat Adinita Kakati (Assam) 21-19; Bronze medals: Abhaya Bharti (Jharkhand) and Mimansha Burakoti (Uttarakhand).

Four: Assam (Suman Kumari Pandey, Suranjana Baruah, Karina Patowary and Jinu Gogoi) beat Jharkhand (Soni Kumari, Unnati Priya, Chhoti Kumar and Juli Kumari) 19-13; Bronze medals: Bihar (Khushbu Kumari, Sana Khatoon, Zubariya and Nikhat Khatoon) and West Bengal (Saheli Banerjee, Ishani Bose, Muskan Bagrodia and Prachi Chowdhary).

Weightlifting

Boys under-21

73kg class: 1. Abhishek Suresh Nipane (Maharashtra) 268kg (Snatch 114kg, Clean & Jerk 154kg); 2. Manoja Kumar Sahu (Odisha) 264 (111, 153); 3. Ganesh Digambar Baykar (Maharashtra) 245 (105, 140).

Girls under-21

59kg class: Chingkham Nirmala Devi (Manipur) 174kg (77, 97); 2. Ditimoni Sonowal (Assam) 163 (74, 88); 3. Liza Kamsha (Arunachal Pradesh) 157 (67, 90).

Boys under-17

67kg class: Markio Tario (Arunachal Pradesh) 268kg (118, 150); 2. Tejas Dattatray Jondhale (Maharashtra) 257 (115, 142); 3. Abhishek Hambirrao Patil (Maharashtra) 253 (110, 143).

73kg class: 1. Kiran Ravindra Marathe (Maharashtra) 251 (111, 140); 2. Dhanavat Ganesh (Telangana) 245 (107, 138); Shiva Chaudhary (Delhi) 244 (109, 135).

Girls under-17

59kg class: 1. Shandrella Huyam (Manipur) 151kg (66, 85); 2. Anai Wangsu (Rajasthan) 150 (65, 85); 3. Sanapathi Pallavi (Andhra Pradesh) 148 (68, 80).