Khelo India Youth Games 2019: Punjab to face Haryana in U-17 hockey final; Bengal dominate gymnastics with eight medals

Pune: Haryana take on Punjab in the boys Under-17 Khelo India Youth Games hockey final to be played on 14 January. [caption id=“attachment_5885821” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Boys U17 Punjab v Odisha hockey semi-final at Khelo India Youth Games. Khelo India[/caption] In Saturday’s semi-finals, Punjab were fortunate to get past a formidable Odisha unit on the strength of a 6-5 tie-breaker decision after the team were locked 2-2 at full time, a media release issued here said. In the other semi-final, the Haryana boys found the target twice in the space of a few minutes to subdue a plucky Uttar Pradesh side 3-2. Odisha can consider themselves unfortunate to not have got the better of Punjab on the day as for long spells they held sway over the game. The losing side dominated all aspects of the game and even led twice but were unable to get past the Punjab defence when it was most needed, especially as their target man Bikash Kujur missed what could have been the decider by inches. In the tie-break, Odisha came up short, much to their dismay even as the Punjab boys celebrated. In the other game, favourites Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were locked in a high-tension battle before the former prevailed when it mattered. Results: Punjab bt Odisha 6-5 (tie-breaker); Haryana bt Uttar Pradesh 2-1. Bengal Dominate Gymnastics With Eight Medals Bidisha Gayen and Satyajit Mondol were the stars for Bengal with two medals each in the Under-21 gymnastics action at the Khelo India Youth Games on Saturday. The West Bengal team finished the day with a total of eight medals that included two gold, five silver and a bronze, a media release issued here said. Maharashtra, however, maintained their overall lead by winning four of the eight gold medals on offer, taking their total to six. Arik Dey impressed the judges once again to walk away with a gold and a silver for the home team. He won the all-around competition on the opening day. Vaidehi Abhay and Omkar Shinde won the uneven bars and rings respectively. Asmita Paul secured the first gold for Tripura in the women’s artistic gymnastics. She later went on to add another bronze for the beam. The rhythmic gymnastics girls all-around competition was completely dominated by Maharashtra as Aditee Dandekar and Kimaya Kadam grabbed the first two spots. Results: Men’s Under-21 Artistic Gymnastics: Floor: 1. Ujjwal Naidu (Kar) 12.5; 2. Arik Dey (Mah) 12.4; 3. Agnivesh Pandey (UP) Pommel horse: 1. Arik Dey (Mah) 11.70; 2. Shivam (Del) 11.55; 3. Agnivesh Pandey (UP) 11.40 Rings: 1. Omkar Shinde (Mah) 12.05; 2. Satyajit Mondol (WB) 11.70; 3. Agnivesh Pandey (UP) 11.65 Table Vault: 1. Satyajit Mondal (WB) 12.85; 2. Ujjwal Naidu (Kar) 12.575; 3. Hafijur Rahman (WB) 12.85. Women’s Under-21 Artistic Gymnastics: Vault: 1. Asmita Paul (Tri) 12.750; 2. Swastika Ganguly (WB) 12.675; 3. Puja Naskar (WB) 11.625 Uneven bars: 1. Vaidehi (Mah) 9.15; 2. Soumyashree Das (WB) 9.10; 3. Sameera Khan (Del) 8.95 Beam: 1. Karishma (UP) 11.25; 2. Bidisha Gayen (WB) 11.25; 3. Asmita Paul (Tri) 9.90 Floor: 1. Bidisha Gayen (WB) 11.50; Swastika Ganguly (WB) 10.75; Sameera Khan (Del) 10.05 Rhythmic Gymnastics: Under-21 All-around:1. Aditee Dandekar (Mah) 46.40; 2. Kimaya Kadam (Mah) 41.00; 3. Meghana Reddy (Tel) 39.30.