Archers and shooters dominated a day of , enthralling and high stakes competition at the the Khelo India University Games 2021 today. Thundershowers halted action on the athletics later in the day.
Much before the downpour though, there was a clean sweep of gold — the morning dominated by Sachin Gupta’s archery. The 23-year-old lit up the competition, grabbing three golds in three finals in the recurve archery — the most dominant display by any archer at the games. Gupta, a student at Kurukshetra University kicked off his personal flurry in the men’s singles, beating Yashdeep Bhoge in a close match 6-4. An hour later, one gold became two, Gupta teaming up with Kirti to win the mixed recurve. By the end of the day, he had added the Men’s team recurve gold to his tally.
Gupta had returned to competition after a five year break from the sport, and ranked eighth destroyed the competition at the Games. “It’s a great start of the season for me,” he said. “A competition like this, at this time in the year is perfect. It has boosted my confidence to go to Stage 2 of the World Cup.”
Bangalore City University defended their KIUG title in the men’s hockey competition. The final between BCU and Guru Nanak Dev University was played in front of a partisan crowd at the Field Marshal KM Cariappa stadium. The one-sided scoreline was not an accurate description of the tight nature of the match. BCU talisman Harish Mutagar solidified his credentials as one of the players of the tournament scoring two as the local team prevailed 3-0. Mutagar ended up as the top scorer of the men’s tournament.
Speaking after, GNDU’s manager GS Sangha rued his side’s missed chances, but said it would be a good experience for his wards. “We were knocked out in the quarters at the Inter University Championship, but reached the finals here,” Sangha said. “Even today, with a few minor improvements at crucial times we could’ve been on the winning said.” Sangha also credited BCU not just for winning the tournament but also doing so in a dominant manner. “They have been the best team here. Their preparation, gameplay, everything they deserve the plaudits.”
Asian Games gold medallist, Ashish Ballal, watching the final, commended the games for the platform it provided young athletes, and how it strengthened the grass root structure. “As a young player, you can get better only by playing tournaments and matches,” Ballal said. “Otherwise its like studying but never having to give an exam. The Khelo India Games are a great initiative, in the sense that give young players yet another opportunity to gain experience and better their skills.”
Results (All finals)
ATHLETICS
Men
20km Race Walk: 1. Akshdeep Singh 1:26.44.00 (New KIUG Record; Old: 1:29.51.80, Juned, Bhubaneshwar, 2020); 2. Anshul Dhoundiyal (Kumaun University) 1:29.07.00; 3. Paramjeet Bisht (Mangalore University) 1:29.33.00.
Women
100m hurdles: 1. Aparna Roy (University of Kerala) 14.28; 2. K Nandhini (University of Madras) 14.52; 3. Ann Rose Tomy (University of Calicut) 14.58.
WRESTLING
Greco Roman
130kg: 1. Satish (Maharshi Dayanand University); 2. Ashok Grewal (Ch Bansi Lal University); 3. Tushar Dube (Bharatiya Vidyapeeth Unversity).
ARCHERY
Men Recurve Individual: Final: Sachin Gupta (Kurukshetra University) bt Yashdeep Bhoge (Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University) 6-4; Bronze medal: Sumedh Mohod (Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University).
Men Recurve Team: 1. Kurukshetra University (Sachin Gupta, Krishan Sharma, Rahul, Sameer Ranga) bt Rani Durgavati University (Amit Yadav, Pavan Parmar, Rohit Nahar, Harsh Sindhiya) 4 (28)-4 (25); Bronze medal: Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University.
Women Recurve Individual: Final: Charuta Kamalapur (Savitribai Phule Pune University) bt Bhavna (Guru Jambeshwar University) 5 (9)-5 (9), Charuta’s arrow was closer to centre; Bronze medal: Ruma Biswas (Adamas University).
Women Recurve Team: Final: Maharshi Dayanand University (Priyanka Thakran, Ritika Yadav, Priyanka Garg, Anu Thakran) bt Punjabi University (Tanisha Verma, Aman Kour, Anushikha, Sehajpreet Kaur) 6-0; Bronze medal: Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Recurve Mixed team: Final: Kurukshetra University (Sachin Gupta, Kirti) bt Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University (Sumedh Mohod, Avanti Kalkonde) 5-3; Bronze medal: Lovely Professional University.
HOCKEY
Men: Final: Bangalore City University 3 (Harish Mutagare 28′, 60′, Vasant Kumar Gokavi 51′) bt Guru Nanak Dev University 0; Bronze medal: Savitribai Phule Pune University 2 (Rohan patil 19′, 46′) bt Punjabi University 2 (Vikas 9′, Suraj Kumar 43′) via shoot out 4-0.
TENNIS
Men:
Women: Final: Osmania University bt University of Rajasthan 2-0 (Sama Satwika bt Sachi Sharma 6-2, 6-2; Rashmika Srivali bt Renee Singh 6-0, 6-0); Bronze medal: Gujarat University bt Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University 2-0.
FENCING
Men
Team Foil: 1. Guru Nanak Dev University (Dev, Vineet, Harsheel Sharma, Tariq Hussain) bt Lovely Professional University (Kartik, Ningthouba Sukham Singh, Amarsinh Thakor, Moriangthem Suresh Singh) 45-32; Bronze medal: Panjab University, Periyar University.
Team Epee: 1. Guru Nanak Dev University (Rajan Prashar, Shubham Rana, Udaivir Singh, Nekpreet Singh); 2. Sardar Patel University; 3. Lovely Professional University, Unviersity of Mumbai.
SHOOTING
Women
10m Individual Air Pistol: Final: Yuvika Tomar (Ch Charan Singh University) 16 bt Radhika Tanwar 6 (Ch Bansi Lal University); Bronze medal: Alka Singh (Delhi University).
10m Air Pistol Team: 1. Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut (Yuvika Tomar 583, Poshika 556 and Himanshi Kashyap 563) 1702 points; 2. Maharishi Dayanand University 1680; 3. Guru Jambheshwar University 1673.
50m Rifle 3 Positions Individual: Final: Ashi Chouksey (Guru Nanak Dev University) 17 bt Shrishti Mishtra (Barkatullah University) 15; Bronze medal: Manini Kaushik (Manipal University).
50m Rifle 3 Positions Team: 1. Barkatullah University (Shrishti Mishra 579, Bandhvi Singh 569 and Mansi Kathait 562) 1710; 2. Saurashtra University 1680; 3. Panjabi University, Chandigarh 1666.
Individual Skeet: Final: Ashi Chouksey (Guru Nanak Dev University) 17 bt Shrishti Mishra (Barkatullah University) 15; Bronze medal: Manini Kaushik (Manipal University).
Team Skeet: 1. Barkatullah University (Shrishti Mishra, Bandhvi Singh, Mansi Kathait) 1710; 2. Saurashtra University; 3. Panjab University.
YOGASANA
Men’s Team: 1. Rasthrasant Tukadoji Maharaj University 504.9 (Vaibhav Shrirame, Vaibhav Deshmukh, Harshal Chute, Shubham Wanjari, Ajit Ghawghawe, Vipul Poharkar); 2. Shivaji University 501.3; 3. Ch Bansi Lal University 490.37.
Women’s Team: 1. Savitribai Phule Pune University 500 (Sanika Kelkar, Akanksha Kharade, Sneha Kale, Pragati Deshmukh, Shreya Kandhare, Jyotsna Dhamdhere); 2. Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj University 497.05; 3. Guru Jambeshwar University 493.2.
Other Results
FOOTBALL
Men (Semi Final)
MG University 3 (VP Danish 33’ OG, KS Hari Shankar 40’, V Arun 65’,) bt University of Calicut 0; University of Kerala 1 (CV Vishnu 70’) bt Punjab University 1(Dharampreet Singh 68’) via penalty shootout (4-3).
KABADDI
Men
Group A: Veer Bahadur University bt Maharshi Dayanand University 47-41; University Of Kota bt Chaudhary Bansilal University 39-38.
Group B: Guru Nanak Dev University bt Mahatma Gandhi Kashi University 42-39; CV Raman University bt Lovely Proffesional University 56-40.
Women
Group A: Himachal Pradesh University bt Bharati Vidyapeet University 51-27; Himachal Pradesh University bt Savitri Bhai Phule University 38-24.
Group B: Maharshi Dayanand University bt Gurunanak Dev University 42-18; Kurukshetra University bt Mangalore University 52-24; Kurukshetra University bt Guru Nanak University 58-23.
