At the Khelo India University Games, Bengaluru's Jain University swimmers dazzled. Jain University topped the medals table while Guru Nanak Dev University (Amritsar) was second
Bhubaneswar: A four-gold medal haul in the swimming pool helped Jain University, Bengaluru, take the early lead in the inaugural Khelo India University Games here on Sunday (February 23).
Guru Nanak Dev University’s (Amritsar) fencing squad claimed three golds to be on the second spot on a day when fencer Riya Bakshi of Cluster University, Jammu, won the first gold medal on offer.
Also read: Somdev Devvarman lauds Khelo India University Games
SV Nikitha was the toast of Jain University, winning the women’s 400m freestyle gold with nearly five minutes to spare and then anchoring the 4x200m freestyle relay team to a handsome victory over Delhi University and University of Mumbai. Siva Sridhar (men’s 400m Freestyle) and SP Likith (men’s 200m Breaststroke) were the other gold diggers for Jain University.
At the fencing arena, left-handed Riya Bakshi stayed focused through her Foil final against the gritty Kajal of Panjab University, Chandigarh. The awareness that they were fighting for the first gold medal in the Games did bring in a touch of pressure, too. But Riya Bakshi did not let either that or her respect for her friend come in the way as she pressed on to a 15-11 win.
Fans of fencing witnessed gilt-edge contests in the men’s Foil and women’s Epee finals. Tushar Raosaheb Aheer (Dr. BR Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad) rallied to beat Tariq Hussain (Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar) 15-14 after a duel in which it was apparent that his rival was hampered by a ligament tear suffered earlier. Tushar Aheer also had a hand in the team’s gold later in the day.
Jain University swimmers
The women’s Epee bout saw Jyotika Dutta (Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar) script a similar turnaround against Manipur University’s Linthoi Haobam. The duellists were locked in a close battle much of the time until Linthoi Haobam capitalised on a sharp chance to inch close to victory. But pint-sized Jyotika Dutta stayed calm and managed successive touches to edge home the winner.
There was heartbreak for the top-ranked women Compound archer Muskan Kirar at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences. She was in top form through the ranking round on Saturday and in the first two rounds on Sunday and looked good to win the quarterfinal against University of Rajasthan’s Kritika Sharma before missing an arrow and bowing out 136-144.
Kritika Sharma did not waste the opportunity and went on to scalp Babita Kumari (Ranchi University) 144-140 in the semifinals. She will meet Muskan Kirar’s Rani Durgawati Vishwavidyala’s team-mate Raginee Marko for the gold medal on Tuesday. Raginee survived a tense quarterfinal against Sakshi Vaidwan (Lovely Professional University), winning 138-136.
The top-ranked Sangampreet Singh Bisla, breezed into the men’s final, overcoming the first serious challenge by his Punjabi University team-mate Sukhminder Singh with a 147-145 win in the semifinals. He will meet second-ranked Mukul Sharma (University of Rajasthan) in the final. He is in line to win a triple gold, being part of the men’s team and mixed teams too.
Riya Bakshi
Fencing
Men
Individual Foil: Tushar Raosaheb Aheer (Dr. BR Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad) beat Tariq Hussain (Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar) 15-14. Bronze medals: Vipul P Yadekar (Shivaji University, Kolhapur) and Arun Kumar (University of Jammu).
Team Foil: Dr. BR Ambedkar University, Aurangabad (Tushar Raosaheb Aheer, Durgesh M Jahangirdar and A Sayyed Shaker) beat Panjab University, Chandigarh (Deepak S Bisht, Divesh and Amit Kumar) 45-25. Bronze medals: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and Shivaji University, Kolhapur.
Women
Individual Foil: Riya Bakshi (Cluster University, Jammu) beat Kajal (Panjab University, Chandigarh) 15-11. Bronze medals: Kusum (Panjab University, Chandigarh) and Simranjeet Kaur (Punjabi University, Patiala).
Individual Epee: Jyotika Dutta (Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar) beat Linthoi Haobam (Manipur University) 15-14. Bronze medals: Chhavi Kohli and Yashkeerat Hayer (both Panjab University, Chandigarh).
Team Epee: Panjab University, Chandigarh (Mumtaj, Yashkeerat K Hayer and Chhavi Kohli) beat Punjabi University, Patiala (M S Greashma, Ena Arora and Jaseerat Singh) 45-37. Bronze medals: Kannur University and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
Swimming
Men
50m Freestyle: 1. Mihir Ambre (Savitribai Phule Pune University 23.78 seconds; 2. Rudransh Mishra (University of Mumbai) 23.80; 3. Samit Sejwal (Delhi University) 24.31.
400m Freestyle: 1. Siva Sridhar (Jain University, Bengaluru) 4:10.43; 2. Suhar Maheshbabu (Visvesvarya Technological University) 4:29.61; 3. Shaunak Prasade (Maharashtra University of Health Sciences) 4:32.97.
200m Breaststroke: 1. SP Likith (Jain University, Bengaluru) 2:23.41; 2 Oum Saxena (Veer Narmad South Gujarat University) 2:26.63; 3. Ansh Arora (Delhi University) 2:27.02.
100m Backstroke: 1. Siddhant Sejwal (Panjab University, Chandigarh) 58.69 seconds; 2. Siva Sridhar (Jain University, Bengaluru) 1:00.69; 3. Thirumaran Sethumanickavel (Manonmaniam Sundaranar University) 1:0070.
200m Individual Medley: 1. Thirumaran Sethumanickavel (Manonmaniam Sundaranar University) 2:13.66; 2. Siddhanth Sejwal (Panjab University, Chandigarh) 2:16.04; 3. Prasad Kandul (Savitribai Phule Pune University) 2:16.04.
Women
50m Freestyle: 1. Sadhvi Dhuri (Savitribai Phule Pune University) 28.00 seconds; 2. Deeksha Ramesh (Jain University, Bengaluru) 28.56 ; 3. Aarti Patil (University of Mumbai) 28.76.
400m Freestyle: 1. SV Nikitha (Jain University, Bengaluru) 4:47.82; 2. Dhruti Muralidhar (Jain University) 4:52.70; 3. Rutuja Talegaonkar (RTM Nagpur University) 4:55.90.
200m Breaststroke: 1. Jyoti Patil (University of Mumbai) 2:45.42; 2. Kalyani Saxena (Veer Narmad South Gujarat University) 2:46.41; 3. Aarti Patil (University of Mumbai) 2:46.93.
100m Backstroke: 1. Damini Gowda (Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences) 1:10.42; 2. Yugandhara Shrike (Shivaji University) 1:12.57; 3. Nairiti Vyas (Maharaja Ganga Singh University) 1:13.02.
4x200m Freestyle Relay: 1. Jain University, Bengaluru (Dhruti Muralidhar, Rhia Singh, B Bhavana and SV Nikitha) 9:38.11; 2. Delhi University 9:50.51; 3. University of Mumbai 9:53.47.
Hockey
Punjabi University bt ITM University, MP 3-1.
Volleyball
Women: HP University bt SRM 3-2 (21-25, 28-26, 22-25, 25-13, 15-11)
Men: SRM University bt MGU Kottayam 3-2 (22-25, 25-27, 25-16, 31-29, 15-10).
Basketball
Women: Hindustan University, Chennai bt University of Madras 73-55, Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar bt Laxmibai National Inst. of Phy Edu. Gwalior 102-82, Kurukshetra University, Haryana bt Punjab University, Chandigarh 67-37, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi bt ITM University, Gwalior 63-62.
Men: Mumbai University bt Jain University, Bengaluru 86-85.
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