KIYG Day-10: Maharashtra swimmer Apeksha sets new meet record

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], February 9 : Maharashtra had an eight-gold day to cross the 100-medal mark on Day 10 of the ongoing Khelo India Youth Games 2022 Madhya Pradesh, even as their talented swimmer Apeksha Fernandes, created a new meet record at the Prakash Tarun Pushkar pool in Bhopal in the Girls 200m breaststroke.
While Maharashtra remained on top of the tally with 39 golds, Haryana and hosts Madhya Pradesh are still in a battle for the second spot with the former ahead with 28 golds to MP's 26.
The day belonged to Apeksha as she set the pool on fire with two wins on the day for a total of three golds from the games. After winning the 200m breast with a record timing of 2.39.87 mins, she went on to win the Girls' 100m butterfly, sealing it with a 1.03.69 mins finish, to be the most successful swimmer of the games till now.
A few more swimmers also picked up their second gold medals of the games. Maharashtra's Vedaant Madhavan won the Boys' 1500m free for his second of the games, while Rajasthan's Abhinandan Khandelwal and Yug Chelani also became double gold medalists when they won the Boys' 200m breaststroke and 400m medley respectively. Karnataka also bagged two golds in the pool. Hashika Ramachandra picked up her second of the games with a win in the Girls' 400m free with a timing of 4.37.84 mins. Karnataka also won the Girls' 4x100m freestyle ahead of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Finally, Sahil Laskar gave West Bengal their first swimming gold, with a comfortable win in the Boys' 100, backstroke. He timed 59.76 to be the only sub one-minute finisher.
Karnataka defeated Punjab 3-2 in the first Boys' football semi-final at the Emerald Heights ground in Indore to make the final, scheduled for February 10, 2023. Abhishek SP, skipper Vishal R and Ishaan Raghunanda scored for the winners while Karandeep Singh Manota scored a brace for Punjab. The scores were tied 2-2 at half-time, before Ishaan scored the winner in the 77th minute of the second half. In the second semi-final, Kerala overcame Meghalaya 5-3. Shibin scored a brace, while Al Yasah, Nandkishore and Sreeraj, scored for the winners.
At Balaghat's Mulna ground, West-Bengal and Manipur setup a Girls football final clash, come Friday. The former outclassed Arunachal Pradesh 4-1 in the first semi-final while Manipur defeated hosts MP 3-0. Mousumi Murmu scored a brace for Bengal where all five goals, one an own goal, were scored by her team. Babita Oinam Devi, scored a couple for Manipur in the second semis to oust the hosts.
In Kabaddi, being played at Indore's Abhay Prashal, Haryana beat Maharashtra 50 - 35 to set up a Boys final clash with Delhi, who narrowly edged out Rajasthan 36-34 in the second semis.
Maharashtra and Haryana on the other hand, will play for the Girls Kabaddi gold, after the former beat Himachal 44-31 in the first semis and the latter trounced Bihar 70-15 in the second. Both finals are scheduled for Thursday.
Five gold medals, three in Fencing, being held at the Ranital Sports complex in Jabalpur and two in Road Cycling, which saw the first day of competitions, were decided in Jabalpur on Day 10.
In Fencing, Maharashtra swept the Girls' Epee individual medals when Anuja Lad, Mahi Aradwad and Janhvi Jadhav from the state finished 1-2-3 in the event. Anuja beat Mahi 15-13 in the final. In the individual Foil for Girls, Sonia Devi Waikhom of Manipur won gold. It was a Maharashtra 1-2 in the Boys' individual saber as well, when Nikhil Wagh beat Shreyas Jadhav 15-14 in the final.
Maharashtra also picked up the individual girl's time trial gold at the Cycling complex, when Pooja Baban Danole finished ahead of state-mate Apurva Gore, for yet another Maharashtra. Ravina Bishnoi of Rajasthan won bronze. Haryana's Raman won the boy's individual time trial ahead of Rajasthan's Kheta Ram Chiga, who won silver and Delhi's Akshar Tyagi, who took home the bronze.
Friday will also see the Boys' and Girls' tennis showdowns, with the top seeds coming up against each other in the Boys' final. Gujarat's Aryan Shah, a 6-0, 6-2 winner over Karnataka's Jason Michael David at the Indore Tennis club here, will come up against Daksh Prasad, who is on home-turf. He beat Pranav Karthik of Tamil Nadu 5-7, 6-2,6-2 in the second semis. Second seed Suhita Maruri of Karnataka, a 6-2, 7-5 winner over Madhurima Sawant of Maharashtra in the semis, will clash with Delhi Tejasvi Dabas on the other hand, in the Girls' final. She beat Sonal Patil (Maharashtra) 6-4,6-4 in the second semis.
In the doubles, Rethin Pranav R.S/Gagan Rakesh Vimal (Tamil Nadu) beat Tanishq Jadhav/Nishit Rahane (Maharashtra) -7-6 (5), 6-4 to reach the Boys' finals. They will meet state-mates Pranav Karthik/Karthik K.S Kavin who beat Deepam Malik/Rian Sharma (Delhi) 6-4, 7-5 in the second semis. In the Girls' doubles, Sohini. S. Mohanty/Aradhaya Verma (Odisha) beat Hannah Nagpal/Saumrita Verma (Uttar Pradesh) 7-5, 7-5 to advance to the title clash. They will take on Pehal Kharadkar/Amishi Shukla (Madhya Pradesh), who beat Tejaswi Dabas/Lakshmi Gowda (Delhi) 1-6, 6-3, 10-7, for the gold.
In Weightlifting at the Basketball complex in Indore, four gold medals were decided and equally distributed. Maharashtra's Nikita Kamalakar won the Girls' 59kg gold with a total lift of 177kg. Delhi's Shiva Chaudhary won the Boys 73kg category with a total lift of 269kg (Snatch=1119kg, Clean and Jerk=150kg), while Haryana's Bhawna won the Girls 64kg with a total lift of 184kg. The final gold was won by the host's Valluri Ajaya Babu, who lifted a total of 297kg (Snatch=135kg, Clean and Jerk=162kg) for the Boys 81kg gold.
In Judo at the SAI Indoor Hall in Bhopal, Chandigarh picked up three of the six golds on offer with Himanshu (Boys 55kg), Sapna (Girls 40kg) and Angel Yadav (44kg) winning for them on the day. L Laxman of Telangana (Boys 50kg) and Lap Kentu of Arunachal (Boys 60kg) won the other two while in the Boys 92kg Mukul Dahiya of Delhi won gold.
Pranav Kori won the Boys individual all-round title in Mallakhamb at Ujjain's Madhav Seva Nyas hall, with a final score of 26.50. Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh won silver and bronze respectively. It was the same order for the combined team rankings as well. In the Girls' individual all-round, Maharashtra's Sameeksha Suradkar won gold with a score of 17.35.
In Mandla's District Sports Complex, where the ancient traditional Manipuri martial art of Thang-ta got underway, semi-final lineups were drawn up for the Phunaba Ama event. Manipur fighters made it to the semis of all the four weight categories on display, save the Boys 60kg where Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and MP made it to the last four.
In Rowing, in Bhopal's Upper Lake area, Kerala won gold in the Girls Fours in as Haryana and MP finished second and third respectively. M.P won gold in the Boys Fours event.
In Kalarripayattu, the traditional martial art form from Kerala which began at Gwalior's Laxmibai National Institute of Physical Education, Kerala swept the medals in the Chuvadukal event with Salpriyan SM winning gold. It was another Kerala sweep in the Girls Chuvadukal, with Dhalana KS leading the lines with gold.