Khelo: Hosts, Manipur share lifting honours on day 3

Manipur maintained their reputation in weightlifting picking two gold, but hosts Maharashtra picked as many to give them a strong competition at the Khelo India Youth Games here Friday.

Between the two states, they accounted for four of the six golds on offer during the day, while Uttar Pradesh and Assam grabbed one each, a media release said.

Ranjit Chavan and Rupa Mahadev Hangandi brought glory for Maharashtra in the men's 73 kg junior category and the women's 59kg junior category, respectively, while L Sadanand Singh in the men's 73kg youth and S Bindyarani Devi from womens' 55kg juniors did it for Manipur.

In the women's 55kg youth category, Shristhi from Uttar Pradesh won quite comfortably with a total lift of 157 kg -- 70 kg in snatch and 87 kg in clean & jerk.

Manipur's S. Bindyarani Devi won the women's 55 kg Juniors gold with a total lift of 179 kg.

In the men's 73kg youth category, Manipur's L. Sadanand Singh claimed gold by lifting a total of 249 kg, 109 kg in snatch and 140 in clean & jerk.

In the men's 73kg juniors it was a tough battle between Ranjit Chavan and N Ajith of Tamil Nadu who were tied in the snatch category with 125 kg lifts each.

In the end, Ranjit defeated Ajith by a whisker by lifting 151 kg against the latter's 150 kg in clean & jerk.

Ranjit totalled 276 kg while Ajith had 275 kg to his name for the silver.

The womens 59kg youth category saw Assams Ditimoni Sonowal claim the top spot with a total of 151 kg.

Rupa Mahadev from Maharashtra, a silver medallist at the Asian Junior Championship, was the big draw in the womens 59kg juniors, but faced a stiff challenge from Mohini Chavan of Haryana.

It was Rupa who emerged the better of the two with a total lift of 186 kg for gold while Mohini with a total of 181 kg had to settle for silver.

Sukarna Adak from West Bengal won the bronze lifting a total of 177 kg.