PANCHKULA: Haryana underlined their dominance in the wrestling ring, bagging all five gold up for grabs to vault to the second spot of the Khelo India Youth Games medal tally, after a dull morning session in which cyclist Vrinda Yadav bagged the first yellow metal for the home side on Sunday.
Defending champions Maharashtra topped the chart with 17 medals (9 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze) followed by the hosts who have garnered the most number of medals, clinching 24 (6 gold, 6 silver 12 bronze), on the day. With four gold and a silver, Manipur are placed 3rd while Punjab (2 gold, 2 silver and 8 bronze) and Chandigarh (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) complete the top five.
Vrinda opened Haryana's medal charge by clinching the gold medal in the Girls 7.5kg Scratch Race at the cycling velodrome in Delhi before the grapplers ensured a clean sweep of gold medals across all the categories.
In the Greco-Roman 51kg category, Haryana took both the gold and the silver after Ronit Sharma got the better of his state-mate Rahul. Similarly in the GR 60kg category, Ankit and Ashish Mor made it a 1-2 finish while Ravi Kumar bagged the repechage bronze.
In freestyle 92 kg category, Sahil Jaglan's convincing 10-0 win over Robinpreet Singh of Punjab got the home side their third wrestling gold before Tanu (girls 46 kg) and Jyoti (girls 57kg) ensured that the state's dominance on the mat continued.
Earlier in the day, Maharashtra's Kajol Sargar (women's 40kg) clinched the first medal of the KIYG, lifting a total of 113 kg (50kg in snatch and 63 in Clean and Jerk). Her state-mate Harshada Garud then rewrote the Youth National Record in the women's 45kg category as she overcame a stiff challenge from Uttar Pradesh's Anjali Patel.
With both lifting 80kg in clean and jerk, it all boiled down to their third and final lift, in which Garud lifted 83 kg in her second attempt itself to etch her name in the record books while Anjali failed even in her third.
Tamil Nadu's L Dhanush also created a new Snatch record of 88 for an overall lift of 190 kg, to lift the gold in the Boys' 49kg category.
Manipur shot to the third spot in the table after clinching all the four golds on offer in Thangta, an indigenous sport added to the Khelo India program for the first time.
Similarly, in Gatka, Chandigarh and Punjab shared the three gold medals on offer, with UT athlete Ravleen Kaur annexing the Single Soti Girls' Individual gold after the Chandigarh Girls' team left behind Haryana and Punjab for the top spot in the Single Soti Team competition. Punjab took the gold medal in the Girls Farri Soti Team event.
Medal Tally On Sunday
Maharashtra: 17 (9 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze); Haryana: 24 (6 gold, 6 silver, 12 bronze); Manipur: 5 (4 gold, 1 silver); Punjab: 8 (2 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze); Chandigarh: 4 (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
