While J&K win medals in gymnastics, Aruna Reddy's coach passed away

The Junior and Sub Juniors national Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship recently concluded in Mohali and Jammu and Kashmir ran away with 23 medals. Delhi finished second whereas Maharashtra followed at number three. The Jammu and Kashmir team, comprising Bavleen Kour, Tawishi Singh, Sneha Dewan, and Yaadavi Mahajan, displayed some serious talent to bag the trophy for Team Championship in Junior category. Bavleen Kour was in a league of her own and went on to win medals galore. She bagged 2 gold medals in Team & Individual apparatus finals of Hoop, three silver medals in Ribbon, Ball and Individual All-rounds and bronze medal in clubs event, while Tawishi Singh too performed brilliantly and got another Individual all-round bronze medal. There could be a new gymnast to watch out for in the next few years to come, in the form of Jammu and Kashmir's Muskan Rana. In the U-10 category, she was declared Individual All round best Gymnast. She also won 4 silver medals in Free Hand, Ball, Clubs and Team events. Also from Jammu and Kashmir was another multi-medal winner Himani Gupta. She won the gold medal in Rope event and two silver medals in Hoop and Team Championships. Jagriti Thakur won two silver medals in Team and Ribbon event and 1 bronze in Free Hand event. Bhavya Khanna claimed 1 silver in Team and bronze medal in Rope event. The Under 8 category saw Jammu and Kashmir win silver in the Team Championship. The team included Vaibhavi Sharma, Ayman Tak, Shrenya and Samreen. Of them Vaibhavi of J&K was declared as All-round best Gymnast, winning three Individual gold medals, while Ayman Tak won silver medal in Hoop event. However, also in gymnastics, on a far sadder note, Aruna Reddy's coach, Brij Kishore lost his battle against cancer. Aruna, who won India's first ever medal in the Gymnastics World Cup is currently gearing up for her campaign at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and had to lose out on a chance to accompany his trainee to the Games. His contribution to Reddy's success is acknowledged by all.