Khelo India Youth Games: Maharashtra's ‘elastic girls’ shine on final day

Maharashtra girls ensured that their state remained at the top position on January 14 with their rousing performances in the Khelo India Youth Games 2020. Asmi Badade, 14, and Aditee Dandekar, 20, outclassed their competitors at the gymnastic events as their state bagged 40 medals out of 62 on offer. Asmi won four golds and one silver while Aditee bagged three golds, a silver, and a bronze medal. 

Uttar Pradesh also showed grit on the final day of the gymnastic events by winning eight gold but Maharashtra came up as champion with 10 gold medals. The 14-year-old Jatin Kanojia was the standout performer for Uttar Pradesh who bagged four gold and one silver.

Aditee, Maharashtra’s star performer, won one gold each in Hoop and Clubs, one silver in Ball, and one bronze in Ribbon on the final day. On January 12, she had won a gold in the Rhythmic Individual All-Around. “I am really delighted with the way I finished. When I was out there on the mat, I felt really confident because I have been training a lot. It is always nice to win laurels for my state, and I hope to continue doing so in the future,” said Aditee after winning five medals.

Read: Khelo India Youth Games: Gold Winner Rudraksh Patil Wants To Emulate Abhinav Bindra

Maharashtra and Haryana in fight

Maharashtra is leading the overall medal tally while Haryana is at the second position as it managed to win four more golds while the former bagged nine golds with a final tally of 26 golds on Tuesday. Maharashtra, the clear table topper, has currently 26 gold, 31 silver, and 50 bronze medals in their 107-medal haul. Haryana is lagging behind with 67 medals but just five gold medals behind Maharashtra. 

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Meanwhile, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh are in tough competition for securing the third place as the former is currently leading with just one gold. Delhi has a total of 44 medals with 17 golds while Uttar Pradesh has bagged 46 medals with 16 golds. Uttar Pradesh pipped past Tamil Nadu and Gujarat by winning four golds, thanks to Vijay Kashyap (200m), Uttam Yadav (1500m) and Mohammed Shahban (hammer throw) of the boys’ U-17 squad.

Read: Priyanka, Jatin, Asmi Continue Gold Rush In Khelo India Youth Games

Read: Khelo India: Around 6,800 Athletes From 37 Teams To Compete In 20 Sporting Events

(With PTI inputs)