Khelo wrestling: Haryana dominate with 8 more golds

Haryana once again emphasised their position as a wrestling powerhouse by emerging as the top team at the Khelo India Youth Games here on Saturday.

Haryana had an incredible haul of 24 golds, which was more than all the others put together.

In all Haryana won 58 medals, which also included 16 silver and 18 bronze, a media release issued here said.

Hosts Maharashtra clinched total 26 medals (four gold, eight silver and 14 bronze), but were placed third as Delhi bagged more gold medals (eight gold, five silver and six bronze) in their 19-medal tally.

Haryana coach Vijender praised his wards for their contribution for the state.

"We were missing top wrestling stars like Anshu and Sonam. Moreover, World sub-junior silver medallist Meenakshi and Asian cadet gold medallist Akash Dahiya weren't at their best. Yet we managed to grab so many medals. It shows the depth and talent in our state," he said.

The best encounter of the day was between Uttar Pradesh's Payal Sharma and Haryana's Monika Hooda in the girls under-21 57kg category.

Both wrestlers were evenly matched and worked very hard but eventually Monika won 18-10.

Of the 11 golds available on the final day, Haryana took eight while Delhi had just two golds and Uttar Pradesh grabbed one.