Patna: Weightlifters continued to dominate the headlines at the Khelo India Youth Games 2025, as Netaji Subhas Institute (Patiala) trainee Sairaj Pardeshi broke three youth national records en route to winning the 81kg gold medal in Rajgir on Monday. Haryana’s Tamanna added to the day’s excitement by setting the 10th youth national record of the Games.
Day 9 of the seventh edition of the Games also saw the athletics competition begin at the Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna with a flurry of records. Four meet records were set in boys’ events. Tamil Nadu’s Jithin Arjunan leapt to a new mark in the long jump, clearing 7.65m to eclipse the previous record of 7.42m set by Aryan Choudhary of Delhi in Panchkula in 2022.
Hosts Bihar had reason to celebrate when Alka Singh won the under-18 shotput gold with a throw of 14.73 metres. It was Bihar’s fourth gold medal of the Games and lifted the state to 13th position in the medal standings, up from 15th overnight.
In the under-18 boys’ 400m heats, Uttar Pradesh’s Kadir Khan clocked 47.67 seconds, erasing the meet record of 48.34 seconds set by Kerala’s Abdul Razzak at the Pune Games in 2019. Two more meet records followed during the evening programme: Hansraj Dhayal of Rajasthan threw 63.18 metres in the boys’ discus, and Maharashtra’s Saif Farooq Chafei clocked 13.48 seconds in the boys’ 110m hurdles.
Weightlifting has emerged as the standout sport of the Games so far. Pardeshi was exceptional in the 81kg category, breaking records in the snatch (140kg), clean and jerk (172kg), and total lift (312kg), comfortably surpassing Andhra Pradesh’s M. Tarun (287kg) and Uttar Pradesh’s Aayush Rana (264kg).
At the time of writing, five of Maharashtra’s 35 gold medals have come from weightlifting, while swimming (seven) and archery (six) remain their most productive sports. Karnataka and Rajasthan maintained their hold on the second and third positions respectively, with Haryana in fourth.
Kerala was Monday’s biggest mover on the medal table, leaping from 11th to sixth after sweeping all three Kalarippayattu gold medals on offer at Gaya’s IIM Campus. Kerala now has eight gold medals overall, just behind Madhya Pradesh at fifth.
Elsewhere, Jammu and Kashmir celebrated their first Khelo India Youth Games Kalarippayattu medal since 2021, as Nitin Kumar won bronze in the boys’ Chuvadukal individual event, ending a long drought for the northern state. It was J&K’s second medal of the Games, following their historic boys’ volleyball gold at the Patliputra Sports Complex during the opening week.
“I am really happy. I have trained very hard for this, four to five hours every day. Coach Danish has worked equally hard with me. I am glad that it has paid off,” Nitin said after his bronze-winning performance.
