How Did Maharashtra’s Aditi Hegde Secure Gold at KIYG 2025?

Patna, May 5 (NationPress) Aditi Satish Hegde launched Maharashtra's quest to uphold its pride in the Khelo India Youth Games 2025 held in Bihar, clinching the gold medal in the girls' 200m Freestyle event. Meanwhile, Karnataka made a significant splash by seizing four out of the seven available gold medals at the BIPARD Swimming Pool in Gaya on Monday.

Stanzin Deechan, a judo athlete from Ladakh, trained at NCOE Gandhinagar, secured gold in the 63kg class, alongside Gargi Tokas (40kg), giving Delhi its first medals at Gyan Bhavan.

Rajasthan celebrated its initial gold medals through the mixed team 10m Air Pistol duo of Prachi and Mayank Chaudhary, who triumphed in Delhi, along with judoka Ashwin Bharadwaj in the 81kg category.

Karnataka finally broke the gold drought in swimming with Krish Sukumar winning the boys' 100m Breaststroke in 1:06.39. Manvi Verma then added to the tally with two golds, one in the girls' 100m Breaststroke in 1:18.30 and another in the 50m Butterfly final in 28.87 seconds.

The fourth gold for Karnataka came from Sri Charani Tumu, who outpaced her teammate Aditi Mulay and Maharashtra’s Aditi Hegde in the girls' 800m Freestyle time trial, finishing in a time of 9:22.29. Other swimming gold medalists included Kerala's S Abhinav (Boys 200m Freestyle, 1:55.32) and Assam's Jananjoy Jyoti Hazarika (Boys' 50m Butterfly, 24.98 seconds).

Prachi and Mayank Choudhary secured the first gold medal of this edition with a nail-biting 17-15 victory over Uttar Pradesh's Urva Chaudhary and Dev Pratap in the Mixed Team 10m Air Pistol final at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Ranges in New Delhi. Prachi, who had previously won silver, expressed elation at this achievement, especially with Mayank's support. Her last shot, scoring 10.6 when the score was tied, showcased her experience and calm under pressure.

In the bronze medal match, Niyamicka Rana and Hardik Bansal (Delhi) triumphed over Kanak and Partik Sheokhand (Haryana) with a score of 16-14. Kanak, a Khelo India athlete, had the top qualification score but lacked consistency in the finals.

Smaran Sarvesh from Tamil Nadu, who currently trains at the SAI Centre of Excellence in Sonipat, advanced to the boys’ recurve final after defeating Uttar Pradesh's Vishu in the semifinals. Vishu had previously eliminated higher-ranked competitors to reach this stage.

Smaran will face Ujjwal Bharat Olekar, who secured his place by defeating second-ranked Devraj Mohapatra in the semifinals, ensuring Maharashtra's representation in all four individual finals. Manav Ganeshrao Jadhav from Maharashtra also prepared for a compound title showdown against Diwanshu Singh from Jharkhand.

The finals for both recurve and compound competitions among girls will feature only Maharashtra athletes. Sharvari Somnath Shende and Vaishnavi Babarao Pawar, who secured the top two spots, will compete in the recurve final, while the compound final sees the top-ranked Tejal Rajendra Salve face off against the third-ranked Prithika.