Barely 10 days after winning medals for India in the World Youth Weightlifting Championships in Lima, Peru, Harsabardhan Sahu and Jyoshna Sabar claimed a gold each for Odisha at the Khelo India Youth Games Bihar Day 7 on Saturday.
Harsabardhan, a Khelo India Athlete from Ganjam district who will turn 16 on May 22, doubled his joy with two National Youth Records in the boys 49kg class competition. He rewrote the National Youth Marks for Clean and Jerk and Total with lifts of 115kg and 203kg respectively after an 88kg lift in Snatch. The previous records were set by Jharkhand’s Babulal Hembrom last year.
Hailing from Gajapati district, the 16-year-old Jyoshna, who has a hat-trick of medals in the IWF World Youth Championships including a bronze in Lima on April 30 and is the reigning Asian Champion in the girls 40kg class, was head and shoulders above the rest of the field and did only what was needed to win gold for her State.
Late in the evening, Maharashtra’s Asmita Dhone and Uttar Pradesh’s Manasi Chamunda rewrote National Youth Records in Snatch, Clean and Jerk and Total in the girls 49kg class competition. Asmita conceded the Snatch record to Manasi who cleared the barbell loaded at 75kg but brooked no challenge in Clean and Jerk.
However, by the time she entered the fray with the load at 91kg, Manasi had claimed the National Youth record for total with 163kg. But that was shortlived as Asmita bossed the Clean and Jerk with lifts of 91kg, 95kg and 97kg. Each lift helped her raise the National Youth mark for total while the last two lifts were records for Clean and Jerk.
Delhi’s 25m Pistol shooter Naamya Kapoor (centre) emerged on top, winning a tough competition with Anjali Bhagwat (Madhya Pradesh) by one point while Assam’s gold came through Priyanuj Bhattacharyya in the boys singles final.
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Delhi’s 25m Pistol shooter Naamya Kapoor (centre) emerged on top, winning a tough competition with Anjali Bhagwat (Madhya Pradesh) by one point while Assam’s gold came through Priyanuj Bhattacharyya in the boys singles final.
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Maharashtra had added two gold medals to its collection earlier on Saturday – Akanksha Kishore Vyavahare opening its account in the Weightlifting arena after left-handed Kavya Bhatt claimed the girls singles Table Tennis crown – it was firmly entrenched at the top of the Khelo India Youth Games 2025 Bihar medal tally with 27 gold, 21 silver and 24 bronze for a total of 72 medals.
Maharashtra has won nearly twice as many gold medals as its nearest rival, Karnataka. Punjab lifted itself to the fifth place on the medal table behind Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, thanks to gold medals from its Skeet shooters, Harazeez Singh Atwal and Risham Kaur Guron. Punjab has six gold, the same as Tamil Nadu, Haryana, and Manipur but has more silver medals than them.
Away from the rush for a place in the top five, Delhi and Assam were delighted to add a gold medal each on Saturday. Delhi’s 25m Pistol shooter Naamya Kapoor emerged on top, winning a tough competition with Anjali Bhagwat (Madhya Pradesh) by one point while Assam’s gold came through Priyanuj Bhattacharyya in the boys singles final.
Hosts Bihar lost two sepak takraw finals. In girls’ doubles final, Bihar lost the gold to Nagaland after leading 11-4 in the decider. Bihar sniffed victory at that stage but some errors, possibly forced by an anxiety to close out the contest, saw it lose 15-7, 11-15, 13-15.
In the boys’ doubles final, Assam beat Bihar to the sepak takraw gold. Assam won the first set 15-9 but the second went all the way to the wire. Bihar saved two match points as Assam converted the third to win 17-15 and the gold.
With 19 medals (three gold, eight silver and eight bronze), Bihar is back in the top half of the medals charts.
With only 13 gold medals on offer on Saturday and with its most rewarding sport, Swimming, having concluded, Karnataka was delighted to secure its first gold medal from another sport. Naraen Pranav Vanitha Suresh finished with one point more than Maharashtra’s Parth Mane to win the boys 10m Air Rifle crown after a heady contest.
On Saturday, it could not be denied that Harsabardhan’s third lift in the Clean and Jerk, which gave him two National Youth Records at once, remained the biggest moment of the day – and possibly the Khelo Indian Youth Games 2025 Bihar thus far.
