Khelo India Youth Games 2019: Manavaditya snatches gold from Asian Games medallists
Rajasthan’s Manavaditya Rathore, son of Olympic medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, came out on top in the event.
The shooting discipline at the Khelo India Youth Games is a star-studded event. From Commonwealth Games medallist Mehuli Ghosh to Asian Games star Lakshay Sheoran, the current stars are competing on this platform that aims to ‘discover’ future talent.
But shooting can be tricky at times. One moment of lapse in concentration and the reputation can go for a toss. Haryana lad Sheroan, who had won silver in trap at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, suffered the same on Saturday and finished fourth in U-21 trap. Rajasthan’s Manavaditya Rathore, son of Olympic medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, came out on top in the event.
There was no such slip for West Bengal’s Mehuli, in the U-21 10m air rifle event. She topped the qualification with a score of 629.4 and then consistently shot 10.5s and above in the final to seal gold with a score 252.1.
Rathore shines
Sheoran topped the qualification with a score of 120 while Rathore had shot 116. All that boiled down to nothing as during the trap finals he missed a series of birds to let the lead slip. Rathore also could find only five of the first 10 targets in the finals but then shot nine of the next 10 birds to be in a comfortable third spot with five shots left before the first of the six finalists were eliminated.
At the end, Rathore’s final score read 38 while Haryana’s Bhowneesh Mindiratta (34) came second followed by Uttar Pradesh’s Shardul Vihan (26), who had also won silver at the Asian Games in double trap. Sheoran scored 22 in the finals to finish fourth.
“I am focusing on the senior trials in February. I want to represent India in international competitions at the senior level. I meditate a lot and that helped me keep my composure despite being in a tricky situation today,” said Rathore, a student of Hansraj College, Delhi.
In U-21 women’s trap, Madhya Pradesh’s Manisha Keer won gold with a final score of 38. Delhi shooters Kirti Gupta (35) and Aadya Tripathi (25) claimed silver and bronze, respectively.
Jet-lagged Mehuli
Mehuli, who arrived from Germany two days back after a competition stint, negated jet lag to do justice to her reputation in the air rifle final. Her score of 252.1 in the final was way ahead of second-placed Gujarat’s Elavenil Valarivan (248.8) and third-placed Rajasthan’s Manni Kaushik (227).
“I am happy with the scores since I was jet-lagged. I have world cups coming up and am also going to Netherlands for training and competition. This is an Olympic qualification year and I have to peak at the right time,” Mehuli said.
In the U-21 men’s 50m rapid fire pistol, Harayana’s Adarsh Singh clinched gold, while in women’s U-17 10m air rifle Gujarat’s Heena Jayeshbhai Gohei (247.5) clinched the top spot.
Tamil Nadu dominate
On the third day of athletics, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh claimed top honours with two gold medals each. In U-21 girls’ long jump, Tamil Nadu’s Sherin A (6.15mts) finished on top while in U-21 boys triple jump Aravnith Ezhilarasan (15.45mts) ended with gold.
Uttar Pradesh’s Anamika Das (U-21) won the women’s shot put gold with a throw of 14.10m, while Rebi Pal (U-21 women’s 3000m) emerged winner, clocking 10:09.88 seconds.
Maharashtra’s Deepak Yadav (U-17 pole vault, 4.80m), Kerala’s Saliha KH (U-17 girls high jump, 1.68m), Haryana’s Jyoti (U-17 girls javelin, 44.22m), Delhi’s Surjeet Gurra (U-21 discus throw, 53.51 m) and Madhya Pradesh’s Ritesh Ohre (U-17 3000m, 8:56.12 sec) were the other gold medallists.
