Khelo India 2019: 10-year-old shooter creates history, becomes youngest gold medal winner

Abhinav Shaw became the youngest gold medallist at the Khelo India Youth Games when he teamedup with Mehuli Ghosh to help West Bengal win the 10m air-rifle mixed team event in Pune on Sunday. The 10-year-old from Asansol raised his game enough in the final to ensure Mehuli Ghosh's classy display would not result in any medal other than her second gold, a media release issued here said. The sixth-standard student had to bide his time to get on the range and display his talent, not being among the 16 shooters chosen to compete in the individual events in either Junior (under-21) and Youth (under-17) categories. He was not about to let it go. He dealt with the qualification and the final with a calm that would be the hallmark of any marksman.             

The pint-sized but hugely talented young star made his team-mate, state and parents proud. A shy lad, embracing quiet, he has taken rapid strides in the direction his father Rupesh and coach Joydeep Karmakar, who missed Olympic bronze in 2012, have chosen for him. It was clear that the Karmakar-trainees complemented one another well. In the final, where each series has a time limit, Mehuli decided to let her young teammate take the first crack.     

Read More |  Khelo India Youth Games 2019 declared open

"I take a little longer than him to line up my shot. He shoots pretty quickly and when we have a minute to complete our series, it helps to have him go first since he shoots quickly," said Mehuli.   

Read More | Mary Kom scales summit, becomes No.1 in latest AIBA Boxing rankings

The West Bengal team scored 501.7 points in the final, better than their 498.2 in the Junior final and the 498.8 in the Youth final in Thiruvananthapuram, the release stated.

Delhi impress

Delhi's judokas and swimmers and Haryana's wrestlers chased Maharashtra hard in the medals race as the battle for overall supremacy gathered momentum in the Khelo India Youth Games on Saturday.                

Maharashtra, who started the day with a lead of eight gold medals over second placed Delhi, now have 41 gold medals, having picked up nine on Saturday. They also have 33 silver and 42 bronze for a total of 116 medals, a media release issued here said. Maharashtra still hang on to the top position, while Delhi are on their heels with 33 gold, 23 silver and 27 bronze medals at a total of 83. Haryana have 29 gold, 29 silver and 32 bronze - total 90 medals. Of the total of 36 teams, from 29 states and 7 Union Territories, 28 have managed to get themselves on the medals tally.               

In the day, Haryana continued their domination in wrestling as they added eight more gold and took their tally from the sport to 24 as wrestling came to an end. Haryana's total picking from wrestling was 58 medals in the four sections. Delhi judokas once again basked in glory, grabbing three gold medals out of the eight on the cards on Saturday and their tally of gold from Judo is now nine.       

In shooting, Manavaditya Singh Rathore, son of Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, gathered himself after an uncertain start to blaze his way to the men's under-21 trap shooting gold medal.             

In another trap event, a fisherman's daughter, Manisha Keer from Madhya Pradesh, claimed the women's under-21 gold. Youth Olympic Games silver medallist Mehuli Ghosh won the women's junior (under-21) 10m air rifle gold in a high profile contest.              

Swimmers from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi dominated the scene Saturday as between them they shared 21 of the 33 medals at stake. Punjab ruled the arena on the fourth day of weightlifting, winning three of the six gold on offer besides silver and bronze. The sporting extravaganza continues Sunday.