Haryana scoops up seven gold to claim fourth spot in Khelo India Youth Games

Rishabh Yadav not only marked his entry in boys under-21 category in Khelo India Youth Games with a gold medal in the compound archery final but also joined hands with cyclist Anil Manglaw to help Haryana rise to the fourth spot on the medal charts on Monday with seven gold among their total haul of 26 medals.

Though Maharashtra did not add to its gold or silver collection on Monday morning, they remained on top with a total of 39 medals, including 12 gold. Delhi inched closer to Maharashtra through the girls under-17 compound archery gold won by Sanchi Dhalla and boys under-17 discus thrower Arvind Sharma. Uttar Pradesh is lying third with eight gold among 19 medals.

With two gold on Monday morning through compound archers Muskan Kirar, who let a sweep of the girls under-21 medals by Madhya Pradesh mates, and Chirag Vidyarthi (boys-17), the State from Central India occupied the fifth position on the table with a total of seven gold among 16 medals.

Tamil Nadu was another State who claimed a pair of gold medals. The boys under-21 long jumper S Saran uncorked a final jump of 7.41m that saw him go past Haryana’s Bhupender Singh (7.30m) and Keralas’ R Sajan (7.29m) to the top of the podium. The girls’ under-21 pole vaulter Pavithra won on a countback ahead of Madhya Pradesh’s Babita Patel after both cleared 3.50m.

Assam’s Gongutri Bordoloi won the girls under-21 road race (60km) in a stirring finish that saw the podium finishers separated only by 0.15 seconds. In fact, the difference between the winner and her 11th placed team-mate Joyshree Gogoi was only 0.74 seconds. This is Assam’s second gold at KIYG 2020 and lifts them closer to the top 10 on the table.

The under-17 Bronze medal in Pune last year saw Rishabh Yadav get into the Indian squad that competed in the International Solidarity Archery Championships in Dhaka. He lost to the top-ranked Chinese Taipei archer, Chen Chieh-Lun. The 17-year-old from Gurgaon is hoping that this victory will catapult him to the elite bunch of Indian compound archers.