Hosts Maharashtra walked away with the overall trophy for the second edition of Khelo India Youth Games after finishing at the top of the medal tally. They won 85 gold, 62 silver and 81 bronze with a total of 228 medals.
Maharashtra finished ahead of the first edition winners Haryana, who were second with 62 gold, 56 silver and 60 bronze for a total of 178 medals, while Delhi were third with 48 gold, 37 silver and 51 bronze for a total of 136 medals.
On the final day, 15 gold medals were at stake and of them eight were in archery, where hosts Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana picked two each while Delhi and Punjab got one each.
Haryana asserted themselves in hockey, winning the girls Under-21 final to take their third gold in hockey from four finals, while Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala won gold each in volleyball. Manush Shah of Gujarat emerged the singles champion in Under-21 table tennis, while Saubhi Patwari of West Bengal won the Girls Under-21 singles.
Boxing
Haryana came as favourites and they duly went back with a bagful of medals from boxing. Riding on the performances of their international boxers, Haryana won 18 gold, 16 silver and 17 bronze for a total of 51 medals from in boxing alone.
It was the second discipline in which their haul crossed the half century mark. They had won 24 gold, 16 silver and 18 bronze for a total of 58 medals in wrestling. From wrestling and boxing alone, Haryana won 42 of their 62 gold medals. Of their total of 178 medals, as many as 109 came from these disciplines.
The major contributors in Haryana’s success were World Youth participants, who comfortably secured gold medals in their respective categories. The few exceptions included 57kg AIBA World Youth champion Sakshi Choudhary, Nations Cup gold medallist Raj Sahiba and Asian bronze medallist Sachin who crashed out in preliminary stages.
Table Tennis
Surabhi Patwari of West Bengal and Manush Shah of Gujarat emerged individual champions in the Under-21 section in Table Tennis.
In an all-West Bengal starrer, the U-21 girls’ singles final went down to the wire as Surbhi Patwari and Kaushani Nath showing exceptional skills. The match was interestingly poised at three sets all, and the decider turned out to be cracker. Surabhi and Kaushani were locked in a neck-and-neck battle with Surabhi finally overpowering Kaushani 16-14 in the decider to take the gold by a 4-3 margin.
West Bengal and Maharashtra emerged overall winners for the U-21 and U-17 categories in Table Tennis. Gujarat and Maharashtra finished second and third in the U-21 category, while Madhya Pradesh were second and Delhi and Bengal shared third place in the U 17 category in the overall race.
Archery
Sachin Gupta, a comfortable winner over favourite and fellow Army Sports Institute-trainee B Dhiraj (Andhra Pradesh), and Paras Hooda won the boys Under-21 and Under-17 recurve golds to lift Haryana to the top of the medals charts in the archery competition.
Haryana finished with a total of seven medals, including two silver and three bronze. The 13-year-old Paras Hooda, who got to pick up a bow only a year and a half ago, came back from 2-4 down to beat team-mate Rahul by winning the last two sets.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!