Weightlifter Sanket Sargar ensures Maharashtra keep nose ahead of Haryana

Guwahati: Maharashtra’s Sanket Mahadev Sargar carried confidence and a total of 239kg to stun Odisha’s Muna Nayak in the boys under-21 55kg class weightlifting competition in the Khelo India Youth Games here on Friday. Hailing from Maharashtra’s prime weightlifting belt, Sangli, he rode on the 5kg advantage which he opened up with a National record in snatch.

Maharashtra, who won a couple of Greco-Roman wrestling medals late on Thursday, remained on top with 36 golds in a total of 133 while Haryana added a gold to their overnight tally of 28 when shooter Vibhuti Bhatia, a ISSF Junior World Cup medallist, led a 1-2 for her State in the 10m Air Pistol final.
 
A first year BA (History) student, Sanket Mahadev Sargar not only helped Maharashtra retain the gold won by Shubham Kolekar last year but also helped the State tighten its grip on the top position in the medals tally. It was his maiden victory over Muna Nayak, the 2019 National Junior Champion who trains at the Army Sports Institute in Pune.
 
“I was confident that Muna Nayak would not be able to bridge the gap in clean and jerk, though his coach had indicated that they would go for gold with a load of 135kg on his second attempt. I was focused on doing the best I could on the platform,” he said, revealing how his coaches had kept him calm and unruffled and got him to focus on lifting 132kg.
 
Arunachal Pradesh’s Golom Tinku won the boys under-17 55kg gold with a total of 209kg. The 13-year-old, a bronze medallist the last time, needed a stroke of luck before he walked on the to the platform for his clean and jerk lifts. Tamil Nadu’s Madhavan Thirumurugan, who held a 6kg lead after the Snatch lifts, registered no-lifts with three clean and jerk attempts at 112kg.
 
The results (all finals):
Shooting
Boys under-21 50m Rifle 3 position: 1. Niraj Kumar (Punjab) 452.3 points; 2. Sartaj Singh Tiwana (Punjab) 451.3; 3. Nitish Kumar (Haryana) 435.7.
Girls under-21 10m Air Pistol: 1. Vibhutia Bhatia (Haryana) 238.3 points; 2. Yogita (Haryana) 236.3 3. Harshada Nithave (Maharashtra) 214.1.
Weightlifting
Boys under-21
55kg class: 1. Sanket Mahadev Sargar (Maharashtra) 239kg (Snatch 107kg, Clean & Jerk 132kg); 2. Muna Nayak (Odisha) 235 (102, 133 ); 3. Prashant Suresh Koli (Maharashtra) 231 (104, 127).
Boys under-17
55kg class: 1. Golom Tinku (Arunachal Pradesh) 209kg (93, 116); 2. Prabal Pratim Gogoi (Assam) 207 (90, 117); 3. Sankar Lapung (Arunachal Pradesh) 203 (90, 113).
Wrestling
Greco-Roman
Boys under-21
67kg class: 1. Anuj (Delhi); 2. Gaurav (Uttar Pradesh); 3. Kundan (Maharashtra).
Boys under-17
55kg class: 1. Omkar (Maharashtra); 2. Lalit (Haryana); 3. Partik (Maharashtra).  
60kg class: Saurabh (Uttar Pradesh) beat Deepak (Haryana); Bronze medals: Prateek (Delhi) and Praduman (Haryana).
65kg class: Ankit (Haryana) beat Bholu (Uttar Pradesh); Bronze medals: Rakesh (Delhi) and Ravi (Haryana).
71kg class: Sahil (Punjab) beat Umesh (Delhi); Bronze medals: Mohit (Haryana) and Mohit (Delhi).
80kg class: Vijender (Delhi) beat Mohit (Uttar Pradesh); Bronze medals: Ankit (Haryana) and Mohit (Delhi).
92kg class: Kapil (Delhi) beat Ankit (Haryana); Bronze medals: Arshdeep (Punjab) and Umang (Uttarakhand).