Panchkula: Haryana boxers delivered the golden punch on the final day to capture the Khelo India Youth Games crown in dramatic fashion here on Monday.
Tied on 41 gold with Maharashtra, the hosts swooped on as many as 10 out of the 20-boxing gold on offer to surge past the defending champions.
Haryana ended their campaign with a grand tally of 52 gold, 39 silver and 46 bronze to reinforce their status as the country’s premier sporting state.
Maharashtra, who fought tooth and nail from Day 1, abdicated their throne, after managing 45 gold, 40 silver and 40 bronze.
Karnataka finished third with 22 gold, including a 19 from the swimming pool. Manipur were fourth with 19 gold and Kerala fifth with 18.
But once the action shifted to the boxing ring, it turned out to be a windfall for Haryana. Six out of their eight pugilists knocked down the gold in the girls’ category while four out of their five boys danced to the top of the podium.
Maharashtra had four contenders in boxing finals but only one of them could return triumphant.
In the end, Haryana’s superiority in boxing (10) and wrestling (16) proved to be the difference in the overall equation. Their swimmers and weightlifters contributed a handsome four gold medals each too.
Maharashtra’s athletes bagged eight gold medals while their swimmers, gymnasts and yogasana players clinched six each. Their wrestlers and lifters added three each too to the tally.
On the last day of competition, Mizoram clinched two gold medals with their boys football team humbling Kerala 5-1 in the final and Jeho Puingheta bagging the boys table tennis singles crown, beating West Bengal’s Ankur Bhattacharjee 4-2.
Punjab girls defeated Tamil Nadu 68-57 and Karnataka boys got the better of Rajasthan 67-62 to share the two gold medals in basketball while Delhi’s boys beat Haryana 38-31 to win the handball gold.
Results (All finals)
Football
Boys -Mizoram bt Kerala 5-1; (Bronze) Meghalaya and Karnataka.
Girls: Tamil Nadu; Jharkhand; (Bronze) Haryana and Gujarat.
Table Tennis
Boys: Jeho Himnakulh Puingheta (Mizoram) bt Ankur Bhattacharjee (West Bengal) 4-2; (Bronze) Deepit Patil (Maharashtra) bt Aadarsh Chhetri (Delhi) 4-0.
Basketball
Girls: Punjab bt Tamil Nadu 68-57; (Bronze) Karnataka bt Rajasthan 67-62.
Boys: Kerala bt Punjab 75-74; (Bronze) Karnataka bt Tamil Nadu 72-68.
Handball
Boys: Delhi bt Haryana 38-31; (Bronze) Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh
Girls: Haryana bt Himachal Pradesh 29-28; (Bronze) Delhi, Uttar Pradesh
Boxing
Boys: Minimum Weight (46-48 KG) Vishwanath Suresh (Maharashtra); Ashish (Haryana): (Bronze) Maan Singh (Jammu & Kashmir), Himanshu Kaushal (Delhi).
Flyweight (48-51 KG): Bishwamitra Chongtham (Manipur); Mohammed Billal (Telangana); (Bronze) Himanshu Rawat (Delhi), Kavi (CHD).
Bantam Weight (51-54 KG): Ankit (CHD); Victor Singh Shaikhom (Maharashtra); (Bronze) Anand Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), Gaurav (Delhi).
Feather Weight (54-57 KG): Himanshu Shrivas (Madhya Pradesh); Vijay Singh (Maharashtra); (Bronze) Ayush (Haryana), Akash Pundir (Uttar Pradesh)
Light Weight (57-60 KG): Rabichandra Singh L (Manipur); Harsh (D&D); (Bronze) Vikas Kumar (Madhya Pradesh), Sidharth (Uttar Pradesh)
Light Welter Weight (60-63.5 KG): Vanshaj (Haryana); Imdad Hussain (Assam); (Bronze) Aditya Goud (Maharashtra), Vishwas Malik (Rajasthan).
Welter Weight (63.5 – 67 KG) : Achal Veer Karwasra (CHD); Anjani Kumar M (Andhra Pradesh); (Bronze) Vikas Kumar (Punjab), Mohit Kanjar (Madhya Pradesh).
Light Middle Weight (67-71 KG): Harshit Rathee (Haryana); Ashish Hooda (CHD); (Bronze) Gagan (Delhi), Manik Singh (Maharashtra).
Middle Weight (71-75 KG): Deepak (Haryana); Kunal Ghorpade (Maharashtra); (Bronze) Paramvir Singh (Punjab), Akash Das (Jharkhand).
Light Heavy Weight (75-80 KG): Vishal (Haryana); Aksh Garg (Punjab); (Bronze) Himanshu (Himachal Pradesh), Ankush Chahal (Delhi).
Girls
Minimum Weight (45-48 KG): Gitika (Haryana); Ragini Upadhyay (Uttar Pradesh); (Bronze) Yamini Kanwar (Rajasthan), Sanjana (Delhi).
Light Fly (48-50 KG): Tamanna (Haryana); S: Suvidha Bhagat (Punjab); (Bronze) K Anju Devi (Karnataka), Monika Mallick (Ben).
Fly (50-52 KG): Ritu (Himachal Pradesh); S: Neeru Khatri (Haryana); (Bronze) Simran Verma (Maharashtra), Yoogasri (Karnataka).
Bantam (52-54 KG): Neha (Haryana); S: Aarti Dharya (UTK); (Bronze) Aikon Mili (Assam), Rishika R Hole (Maharashtra).
Feather (54-57 KG): Preeti (Haryana); H. Griviya Devi (Manipur); (Bronze) Renu (CHD), Anju (Rajasthan).
Light (57-60 KG): Preeti Dahiya (Haryana); Kalapana (Rajasthan); (Bronze) Shaheen Gill (Punjab), Lakshita Sharma (Madhya Pradesh)
Light Welter (60-63 KG): Isha Gurjar (Rajasthan); S: Rudy Lalhmingmunai (Mizoram); (Bronze) M Swetha (Tamil Nadu), Riya (Delhi).
Welter (63-66 KG): Sneha Kumari (Himachal Pradesh); Muskan (Haryana); (Bronze) Vishakha Vartiya (Punjab), Anjali Chahar (Uttar Pradesh).
Light Middle (66-70 KG): Lashu Yadav (Haryana); Shivani (Delhi); (Bronze) Sneha (Rajasthan), Saie Vinayak Davkhar (Maharashtra).
Middle (70-75 KG): Khushi (Punjab); Ekta (Himachal Pradesh); (Bronze) Reena (Rajasthan), Sneha (Haryana).
–IANS