SPO-KHELO WRAP

Hosts Maharashtra moved into lead

in the medal tally as they amassed 11 gold medals Thursday and

held a two-gold advantage over Delhi as the battle intensified

at the Khelo India Youth Games here.

Delhi were a close second with 13 gold medals, while

Haryana are placed third with 12 gold medals, a media release

said.

Maharashtra has so far won 57 medals -- 15 gold, 19

silver and 23 bronze medals.

Delhi's medal tally includes 13 gold, 10 silver and 13

bronze medals, while Haryana 40-medal haul comprises 12 gold,

10 silver and 18 bronze medals.

Maharashtra's haul Thursday was mainly from gymnastics

(five) and swimming (three) while their athletes won two and

weightlifters took one gold.

Haryana had a massive haul of nine gold from

wrestling, of which women won seven, and their only other gold

came in Judo.

Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh hogged the lion's share

of medals in gymnastics Thursday.

The home state bagged five of the 14 gold on offer,

while Uttar Pradesh took four.

UP dominated the men's section with four gold, while

West Bengal (3) and Jammu & Kashmir (2) shared five gold in

the women's events.

In wrestling, Haryana won all seven gold medals in the

girls'under-17 weight category even without their star

internationals Anshu and Sonam.

Along with seven gold, Haryana took home one silver

and five bronze medals.

Meanwhile, in weightlifting, the victory podium was

dominated by Mizoram who clinched two gold, one silver and a

bronze in the men's 61kg (youth and junior combined) and a

gold and silver each in the men's 67kg (youth and junior).

In the men's 67kg category all eyes were on Youth

Olympics gold medallist Jeremy Lalrinnunga who duly took gold

in the U-17 event and silver in the U-21s.

In athletics, Punjab's Kunwer Ajai Raj Singh Rana

shone with a 75.40 m throw that earned him the Under-17

javelin throw gold.

Delhi judokas proved unstoppable, winning three of the

six gold at stake, the release stated.