Khelo India School Games: Day 8 round up

Maharashtra had an excellent outing on Day 8 of the Khelo India School Games as they are now placed at the top of the medals tally. They acquired as many as 5 Gold medals to overtake Haryana who is now placed on the second spot after staying on the top for the past few days. Delhi also made improvements and is breathing down the necks of the top two contenders. Early in the day, Achinta Sheuli of Boys Sports Coy A.S.I Pune finished at the top of 77kg Girls' weightlifting with Pritam Chavan, representing the same, finished behind him. Girls from Maharashtra also made their State proud as they outclassed neighbours Gujarat in a neck and neck battle in the final to win the Gold. Jammu and Kashmir won its first medal of the Games as Balveen Kaur of KC Public School from Jammu won the Silver medal in the Individual all-round Rhythmic Gymnastics Girls event with a score of 39.75 while Mehakpreet Kaur from Delhi topped the competition scoring 41.10. West Bengal stormed into the top 10 of the standings with Bidsha Gayen's brilliant performance in Girls' floor-artistic gymnastics event leaving behind Delhi's Mallika Kulsreshtha. Uttar Pradesh's Mohd Anas swelled up North Indian State's tally by winning the Boys' Table Vault Gymnastics event while Kaushik Kazi from West Bengal's Barasaat region won the Silver medal. Source ToI Another shining star from West Bengal was Protistha Samanta of Shibpur Hindu Girls High School winning the Table Vault Girls' event. Purva Vijay Kirve won the Girls' uneven bars and ensured Maharashtra remains at the medals tally along with their Gold medal win the Boys' Kho Kho event. Gujarat's Dosani Eve grabbed top rights in the Girls' 63kg claimed top honours in the Girls' 63kg Judo competition, the second place was earned by Maharashtra's Friya Khusnoor. Manipur also consolidated their position at the 6^th place with 9 Gold medals, with two of them earned during the 8^th Day of the Games. Warepam Sapana Devi from Manipur's Radha Madhava Sanskrit Mahavidyala won the Girls' 69kg weightlifting category while Chanam Rebina Devi secured the 9

th Gold medal for the North-Eastern State as she sailed to a top placed podium finish in the Girls' 57kg Judo event. Punjab moved a place over Kerala with their win in the 81kg Judo competition with the dominant performance of Harshpeet Singh while Manpreet representing the same won his respective category, the 73kg Boys' Judo event. Uttarakhand's only Gold medal came in the Rings Gymnastic competition of the Boys' event while Maharashtra's Manesh Sanjay Gadhave grabbed the top spot in the Boys' pommel competition. Haryana's Jagriti won the Gold medal in the Girls' 52kg Judo event to keep their hopes alive for a top place finish at the Games. Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar paid a visit to the catch the live action of the Khelo India School Games on Tuesday and he was pretty pleased with the whereabouts and urged everyone to support the cause in the future days. He lauded the efforts of the Star Network to spread the reach of the Games to each corner of the country. 'I am delighted to see that for the first time ever, through the Khelo India School Games & the broadcast of it on the Star Sports network, young sporting talent is being recognized and rewarded instantly, said Akhay. He added by saying, But this is only the beginning and I hope that the Khelo India movement gets the right momentum through your support. So, come forward and support the Khelo India movement. Saath mein hai Hum, Khelo India!' At the end of the 8^th Day, Maharashtra is still at the helm of affairs in the tally with 24 Gold medals and a total collection of 84 medals overall. The State is closely followed by Haryana and Delhi who have 23 and 22 Gold medals respectively in their kitty. With just a day's action to go before the first edition of the Khelo India Games conclude, each of the top three states will have an opportunity to finish at the top, which will make the last day even more interesting.