Defending champions Maharashtra and last edition runners-up Haryana clinched five and four gold medals each on Monday to begin their march towards the top half of the medals tally of the Khelo India Youth Games 2023 in Tamil Nadu.

Maharashtra bagged two gold medals each from Gymnastics and Yogasana and one in fencing to jump to the second spot in the overall standing while Haryana swept both the Kabaddi gold medals and added one each in Judo and fencing to climb to third position. Host Tamil Nadu continued to occupy the top spot with six gold medals, adding two from the cycling velodrome at TNPESU, Chennai.

Gujarat were in fifth position after judokas Meherudak Makhwana (52kg) and Shahin Darjada (57kg) added two more gold medals to the one they had won from the same arena a day before. Telangana also won two gold medals on Monday – one each in Gymnastics and Cycling.

On the first two days of the competition, both Maharashtra and Haryana had missed out on winning any gold medal and hence were in the bottom half of the medals table despite winning more medals overall.

Gymnast Aaryan Davande opened Maharashtra’s gold medal account with a clinical performance in the Artistic All-Around competition at the SDAT Aquatics complex in Chennai before Samyukta Kale clinched the Girls Rhythmic All-Around title with a total of 102.75 points. Davande accumulated a total of 73.200 points to pip Uttar Pradesh’s Pranav Mishra (72.470 pts) to the top spot. Harshit of UP clinched the bronze with a score of 71.700 points in the event where the boys have to perform on six different apparatuses to decide the winner.

In Yogasana, Rudrakshi Bhave led a clean sweep of medals for Maharashtra in the Girls’ Artistic Single category while Rohan Tayade won the gold medal in the Boys’ Artistic Single event.

Fencer Mahi Aradwad then rounded off Maharashtra’s gold medal count with a 15-11 win over Anupriya of Haryana in the girls’ Epee final at the Table Tennis Hall in TNPESU.

Haryana as expected bagged both the gold medals in Kabaddi at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium. The boys’ team defeated Rajasthan 43-28 while the girls got the better of Tamil Nadu 40-33 in the respective finals. In the Judo competition being held at the same venue, Lucky got the better of his state-mate Inder Aakash Singh to clinch the gold medal before Kanupriya defeated Manipur’s Mangaleibi T in girls’ Foil final in Fencing to take Haryana to third position.