Sanjana of Haryana improved her national youth record en route to a 76 kg gold in the weightlifting competition of the Khelo India Youth Games in Chennai on Monday.
At the same time, Sayali Wani of Maharashtra bounced back from the brink to catch the girls' singles table tennis gold.
Sanjana commenced by breaking her previous snatch record of 86 kg twice, successfully lifting 87 kg and 90 kg in her second and third attempts before successfully executing 113 kg and 116 kg lifts in Clean and Jerk. Grishma Thorat of Maharashtra won the silver with a total lift of 167 kg.
Uttar Pradesh lifter Parv Chaudhary also bettered the Clean and Jerk national youth record in the boys’ 96 kg category, lifting 160 kg for the gold. He lifted a total of 280 kg, with Arunesh Babu (258kg) of Andhra Pradesh and Aditya (249kg) of Haryana clinching the silver and bronze, respectively.
In table tennis, Sayali Wani demonstrated immense solidity, overcoming the challenge of Nandini Saha of West Bengal 8-11, 8-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-0, 11-6.
The Nashik girl looked down and out after losing the opening three games before picking herself up and exhibiting the mental strength to go on the attack, thus turning the tables on her opponents. The bronze medal was won by Maharashtra's Pritha Vartikar.
Vartikar and Wani also teamed up to bag the girls' doubles crown, conquering state-mates Taneesha Kotecha and Risha Mirchandani 3-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6. At the same time, Maharashtra extended its lead at the top of the table, with swimmers also contributing four more gold medals.
Rishab Das of Maharashtra clinched three swimming golds, taking the top spot in boys 50-metre backstroke and 100-metre freestyle before teaming up with Shlok Khopade, Salil Bhagwat and Ronak Sawant to grab the 4x100 medley relay.
Maharashtra's Rujuta Rajadnya added the 50m backstroke gold to her 50m freestyle conquest with a timing of 31.04 seconds. Aarushi Agarwal of Karnataka grasped the silver with a time of 31.18 seconds, whereas Tamil Nadu's Deeksha Sivakumar held the bronze with a time of 31.23 seconds.
Haryana seized three of six golds on offer in wrestling, increasing its lead over third-placed Tamil Nadu, as the latter failed to add to its gold medal count on Monday.
With two days of the event left, Maharashtra sits comfortably at the top with 44 golds, 39 silvers and 44 bronze.
