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

Maharashtra girls ensured that ir state remained at top position on January 14 with ir rousing performances in Khelo India Youth Games 2020. Asmi Badade, 14, and Aditee Dandekar, 20, outclassed ir competitors at gymnastic events as ir 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 final day of gymnastic events by winning eight gold but Maharashtra came up as champion with 10 gold medals. 14-year-old Jatin Kajia was 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 final day. On January 12, she had won a gold in Rhythmic Individual All-Around. “I am really delighted with way I finished. When I was out re on 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 future,” said Aditee after winning five medals.

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Maharashtra and Haryana in fight

Maharashtra is leading overall medal tally while Haryana is at second position as it mand to win four more golds while former bagged nine golds with a final tally of 26 golds on Tuesday. Maharashtra, clear table topper, has currently 26 gold, 31 silver, and 50 bronze medals in ir 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 third place as 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 boys’ U-17 squad.

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

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(With PTI inputs)