Khelo India Youth Games Day 8: Aisangfa Gogoi creates weightlifting record; Maharashtra sweep yogasana medals
Assam's Aisangfa Gogoi scripted a new National Youth Record for total lifts on her way to gold in the girls 55kg class weightlifting competition in the Khelo India Youth Games 2025 Bihar at the Rajgir Sports Complex on Sunday. She raised the National Youth Record to 183kg, breaking the mark set by Mina Santa in Fiji last year.
Winning Assam's sixth gold medal, Aisingfa helped the State break into the top 10 in the medal table, with two silver and two bronze medals as well.
It did not take long for Maharashtra to demonstrate its strength as the spring of yogasana. Its athletes claimed both gold and silver in the boys' and girls' rhythmic pairs competitions. Along with Yash Khandagale's 61kg class weightlifting gold, their contributions increased its collection of gold medals to 30, in addition to 24 silver and 25 bronze medals so far.
Karnataka remained in second place ahead of Rajasthan, though the latter gained a gold through Prakriti Sharma in the girls' Sabre final at the Fencing arena in Rajgir. She beat S. Tanvi (Karnataka), who shocked the top-ranked Pangambam Ambika Devi (Manipur) in the semifinal. Only the top three teams have claimed 10 gold medals or more. Madhya Pradesh stayed in fourth spot.
Haryana's Sachin showcased his skills with the Foil to win a crucial gold for his State and help it rise above Tamil Nadu to sixth spot on the table with seven gold, six silver and 16 bronze. However, Punjab kept its nose ahead of its neighbour, thanks to Sunil Singh's gold in the boys' 61kg weightlifting competition in Rajgir. Punjab has won seven gold and 10 silver, and bronze each.
Bihar, which has enjoyed a good run in the Games, added a seventh sport in which its athletes have won medals. Bihar's yogasana artists ensured that the home State would gain at least one medal on Sunday. They joined their teammates from Rugby, Sepak Takraw, Cycling, Gatka, Judo and Shooting in contributing to the home State's growing tally.
Saransh Kumar and Abhishek Kumar were unable to match the top two Maharashtra pairs but topped the race for the yogasana boys' Rhythmic Pair bronze medal. Bihar now has 20 medals, including three gold, eight silver and nine bronze. It thus became the eighth State to have collected 20 or more medals thus far.
There was a surprise in store when the first Kalaripayattu medals were decided today — the Chhattisgarh pair of Arjun Kumar Chandra and Anant Swarnkar claimed the boys' Long Staff Fight gold from Delhi's AM Aaron and Aadinath KB, and the Kerala pair of Abhinand KP and Adarsh KS got the bronze medal on the podium with Karnataka's Chandramouli R and Suhas R Ramapur.
However, Dhalana KS provided the balm for the hurting Kerala squad with a victory in the girls' Chuvadukal final against Larisha Sharma (Karnataka).
In the weightlifting arena, it was clear the contest for the girls' 55kg gold would be among Mina (Odisha), Karangi Hemasri (Andhra Pradesh) and Aisangfa, who had finished in that order in the National Youth Championships in Himachal Pradesh.
They would have been relieved that Koyel Bar, who won a silver medal in the Asian Youth Championships in Doha in December last, had not entered.
With the Andhra Pradesh girl not finding her form and settling for third place, it boiled down to a tough contest between Mina and Aisangfa. The Assam girl, who trains at the SAI National Centre of Excellence in Lucknow, wound herself up to deliver a surprise. She opened up a 1kg lead after the Snatch lifts, but despite some pressure applied by Mina's entry at a higher weight in clean and jerk, she was able to run out a comfortable winner.
The athletics and wrestling competitions begin tomorrow and, together with boxing that has reached the quarterfinal stage, will see a hectic spurt in the medal charts as the last four days of exhilarating competition remain in the Khelo India Youth Games 2025 Bihar.
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