Khelo India Youth Games 2019: Kalyani Saxena earns gold in swimming; Tamil Nadu jumpers Aravinth, Sherin win golds

Pune: Unheralded Kalyani Saxena swam to gold and glory in the U-21 women’s 400 medley, earning the first swimming gold for Gujarat in the Khelo India Youth Games on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_5885421” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Gujarat’s Kalyani Saxena in action. Twitter: @KheloIndia[/caption] For a third successive day, action in the pool was dominated by swimmers from Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka who between them shared 21 of the 33 medals at stake. Maharashtra claimed seven medals (four gold, three silver), Delhi eight (three gold, three silver and two bronze) and Karnataka bagged six (two gold, silver and bronze), a media release issued here said. Kalyani made light of the opposition and finished in 5:27.28 to even ease up her pace before the others could touch the finish pad. Tamil Nadu’s Sanjay Jayakrishnan, winner of a bronze in the boys U-17 1500m freestyle Friday, gave his state the first gold of the day as he pipped the fancied Anurag Singh of Delhi in the 400m freestyle. Bhavika Dugar, the winner of 400m girls U-21 freestyle, closed the third day’s proceedings the pool with her second individual and Tamil Nadu’s second gold in the 1500m freestyle. Delhi’s three gold medals came from Kushagra Rawat (men’s U-21, 400m freestyle), Bikram Chiangmai (boys U-17 100m butterfly) and their 4x100m medley relay (boys U-17). Maharashtra’s Mihir Ambre won an exciting 100m butterfly contest in the boys U-21 section. Team-mateSadhvi Dhuri won the girls U-17 100m freestyle while Karnataka’s second gold came in the boys U-21 4x100m medley relay.  TN jumpers Aravinth and Sherin win golds Tamil Nadu long jumper Sherin Abdul Gafoor’s happiness knew no bounds while breaching the six-metre mark in a major competition as she struck gold at the Khelo India Youth Games on Saturday. Eighteen-year-old Sherin’s quest for personal best met with success on a warm afternoon at these Games. The 18-year-old Aravinth Ezhilarasan doubled Tamil Nadu’s delight by winning the men’s under-21 triple jump gold with a 15.45m effort, a media release issued here said. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh won three golds in track and field competitions today, through Rebi Pal (girls under-21 3000m), Vipin Kumar (boys under-17 hammer throw), and Anamika Das (girls under-21 shot put). Rebi Pal’s victory was creditable as it came against the formidable Maharashtra runner Poonam Sonune, a South Asian under-20 champion over 1500m and fourth in the 3000m at the Asian Junior Championships last year. Maharashtra’s pole vaulter Deepak Yadav was not challenged by the competition but improved his personal best from 4.79m, achieved when he won the National junior championship in Ranchi in November, to 4.80m on Saturday, the release added.