Maharashtra pick up 4 gold to regain top spot in Khelo Games

Guwahati : Maharashtras athletes, fired up by the gauntlet thrown down by Haryana, came up with a stellar performance on Tuesday, adding four gold medals to regain the lead on the medal table in the Khelo India Youth Games.

Haryana, who had a spectacular day on Monday to join them at the top with 17 gold, could only follow up with one more to slip to the second position.

With a total of 21 gold among their 89-medal haul so far, Maharashtra have a three-gold advantage over Haryana who have 54 medals.

Delhi are third with 15 gold in their 41-medal collection while Uttar Pradesh rose to the fourth spot, winning four gold medals in the morning to slip past Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. With no gold coming their way on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu watched Madhya Pradesh vault over them to the sixth place.

Karnataka picked up three gold medals on Tuesday, one more than they had won over the past few days, to get into the Top 10 where Tamil Nadu and Kerala are in the seventh and ninth spots on either side of Manipur.

Karnataka's gold were won by Abhin Devadiga (Boys Under-21, 200m), Akhilesh (Boys Under-17, triple jump) and judoka MN Vasundhara (Girls Under-21, 63kg).

Yet, it was Uttar Pradesh who minted the most gold medals on Tuesday morning, thanks to the Boys Under-17 squad's stellar triple crown show. Vijay Kashyap (200m), Uttam Yadav (1500m) and Mohammed Shahban (hammer throw) shone in athletics while Gaurav Kumar (parallel bars) sparkled in gymnastics.

The four table tennis singles crowns went to paddlers from different states: Fidel Survajulla (Telangana, Boys Under-21), Anusha Kutumbale (Madhya Pradesh, Girls Under-21), Aadarsh Chhetri (Delhi, Boys Under-17) and Diya Chitale (Maharashtra, Boys Under-17).

On Tuesday, Fidel rallied from the loss of an opening set defeat to down Raegan Albuquerque (Maharashtra) 4-2 while Anusha Kutumbale had it easy against Srushti Haleangadi (Maharashtra), winning in straight sets.

Maharashtra would rue missing these two gold that would have helped them widen the gap with Haryana on the medal tally.

At the velodrome, Manipur's Elangbam Singh scored a fine win over Karnataka's Venkatappa Kengalagutti in the Boys Under-21 Scratch Race while his team-mate Birjit Yumnan took the Boys Under-17 Scratch Race title, edging out the home state's Manobjyti Teron by 0.931 seconds.

Odisha cyclist Swasti Singh won the Girls Under-21 Scratch Race from Keerthi Rangaswamy (Karnataka) by a 0.246 second margin while Maharashtra's Pooja Danole picked up her second gold medal by winning the Under-17 Scratch Race from Manipur's N. Biseshori Chanu by a handsome 1.978 seconds.