Priyanka, Jatin, Asmi continue gold rush; four meet records in track and field

Guwahati, January 11: Maharashtra’s Asmi Ankush Badade and Uttar Pradesh’s Jatin Kumar Kanojia joined Tripura lass Priyanka Dasgupta as Khelo India Youth Games biggest bounty hunters so far here on Saturday, adding one more gold to take their individual tallies to three.

Day 1’s star Priyanka, however, stayed ahead by herself winning one more gold to take her total haul to four, the highest so far.

Athletics action meanwhile got under way and immediately made an impact, with four meet records being bettered. Madhya Pradesh sent out winners in Arjun Waskale (Boys Under-17 3000m) and Vivek Kumar, who led a medals’ sweep in the Boys Under-17 javelin throw, to corner seven of the 18 medals at stake in the morning session.

The breath-taking finish of the Boys Under-21 5000m race drew fans at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium to the edge of their seats, with defending champion Ajeet Kumar winning by the barest margin from a determined Sunil Dawar.

The photo finish camera had to be consulted before Ajeet Yadav was declared winner by a thousandth of a second in 14:39.99, a new meet record.

Uttarakhand broke into the medals chart with Ankita’s gold in the Girls Under-21 5000m in a new meet record time of 16:38.75. She exchanged leads with Gujarat’s Reena Patel before pulling away with a lap and a half to go. Later, though, her own Girls Under-17 3000m meet record was lowered by Jharkhand’s Suprita Kachhap.

At the Bhogeswari Phukanani Indoor Stadium, Jatin Kumar Kanojia won the Parallel Bars gold by a big margin on Saturday to add to the Boys Under-17 artistic gymnastics All-Around crown won on Thursday and the Floor Exercises on Friday. The triple gold enabled him to wrap up the competition with five medals.

Maharashtra’s Asmi Ankush Badade was in her elements on Saturday, dominating the Girls Under-17 rhythmic gymnastics competition. Having established her superiority with the All-Around title on Friday, she brooked no challenge in both the Ball and Rope routines to take gold in all three events. Assam’s Upasha Talukdar and Shreya Pravin Bhangale (Maharashtra) shared the lesser medals.