The Khelo India University Games 2021 concluded on Tuesday with the men's and women's kabaddi finals, drawing the curtain on 10 days of high-octane sporting action.
The hosts Jain University ensured that there would be no complications to their grasp on the title, sealing it a day in advance due to Priya Mohan's exploits on the track and two gold in Karate (Syed Baba in the -55kg and another in the Team Men Kumite). They ended up with 20 golds, three more than their closest competitors Lovely Professional University (17 gold, 15 silver, 19 bronze).
While LPU ended up with the most medals of any university in the competition, their gold deficit saw them lose the title to the hosts. Defending champions Panjab University finished third (15 gold, 9 silver, 24 bronze).
The Games were also a great example of the growth and improvement in this level of competition since its last edition. In total 97 KIUG records were broken or equalled at KIUG 2021. A mind-boggling 42 were in weightlifting, 28 came in the pool, while 23 came in athletics. Two national records were also broken in the competition -- Siva Sridhar setting a new mark in the Men's 200m Individual Medley and MT Ann Mariya breaking the clean and jerk record in the women's weightlifting +87kg class.
Sridhar was the runaway athlete of the Games, winning 7 golds and two silvers in the competition. The swimmer also set a new KIUG mark with each gold he won in the pool. Swimmer Shrungi Bandekar's four gold and one silver make her the most successful female athlete at the games. Priya Mohan's 200m, 400m double secured her spot as the most dominant athlete on the track.
Results (all finals)
Kabaddi
Men: Final: University Of Kota bt Ch Bansi Lal University, Bhiwani 52-37; Bronze medal: Dr CV Raman University, Guru Nanak Dev University.
Women: Final: Kurukshetra University bt Maharshi Dayanand University 46-19; Bronze medals: Himachal Pradesh University, Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Football
Men
Final: MG University 2(Hari Shankar KS 2', Arjun V 89') bt University Of Kerala 0; Bronze medal: University of Calicut, Panjab University.
( With inputs from ANI )
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