Khelo India School Games: Day 5 round up

Haryana was the biggest gainer on Day 5 of the Khelo India School Games as they secured eight gold medals to cement their place at the top of the medals tally. Not only that, seven out of the eight came in Wrestling. Delhi also had a great outing, climbing up to the second place in the tally. Manu Bhaker from Jhajjar region in Haryana impressed in the Girls' 10m Air rifle category and started the Day on a positive note for the North Indian state. It was followed by a great show by Anshu, who leapfrogged Leena Anthony Siddi of Karnataka to earn the second gold of the day for her State. Wrestling has been a forte for Haryana and it was no exception this time as well with Nitesh Kumar storming his way to a podium finish, having the better of Nitesh Kumar in the 100kg Greco-Roman category. In the 85kg event, Ravi Malik clinched the gold and added to the tally for Haryana. Ravita Kumari piped Punjab's Arshpreet Kaur in the 70kg girls' freestyle category which increased Haryana's tally. Joginder further improved Haryana's position by claiming top honours in the boys' 58 kg freestyle wrestling category having the better of Delhi's Kapil Paheaswal in their bout. Sonam of Haryana defeated Mansi who also represents the same state to win the 65kg women's freestyle category. Himachal Pradesh scripted a memorable win over Delhi in the final to win the gold in the Girls' Kabaddi event. It was a clinical performance from the girls at the KD Jadhav Stadium in which they edged past their opponents 25-19 to secure their second top place finish in the ongoing Games. In the Boys' event, Delhi sailed past Uttar Pradesh 33-27 to help their State consolidate their position in the medals tally in the second position just next to table toppers Haryana. The boys from the capital held on to their nerves in the final minutes of the tie to win a thriller. Raider Sanjay Dabas was among the best performers in the pinnacle clash. Karnataka based swimmer Srihari Nataraj continued his dream run as he won another Gold medal in the 100m freestyle category with a timing of 53.07 leaving behind Neel Roy who took 0.29 seconds more to cover the distance. With the win, Nataraj's gold medal tally swelled to 6 along with a lone Silver. In the girls' event, Delhi's Annie Jain of Bal Bharati Public School grabbed top honours Shivangi Sharma who represents the same settled for a second-place finish. On top of that, Srihari Nataraj and Annie Jain completed a double for the day by winning the 50m breaststroke in their respective categories. More medals will be up for grabs on Day 6 of the meet as the Volleyball competition is down to its business end. Hosts Delhi is scheduled to face-off against the likes of Uttar Pradesh for the Gold medal in the Boys' category. West Bengal will eye its first Gold medal when they take on Maharashtra in the final match of the girls' category. At the end of the fifth day, Haryana is far ahead of others with 20 gold medals to its name and a tally of 54, while Delhi is the closest with 17 gold medals. Maharashtra who was on top after Day 4 with 16 gold medals would be rather disappointed to slip out from the position after failing to win gold on Sunday. Karnataka is not far behind with 15 gold medals, while Uttar Pradesh will have to play catch up to be on par with the others.