On the ninth day of the Khelo India Youth Games, Maharashtra's Sairaj Pardeshi stole the spotlight with a record-breaking performance in weightlifting, while a series of athletics and kalarippayattu milestones added to the action-packed day.
🏋️♂️ Weightlifting Highlight:
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Sairaj Pardeshi clinched gold in the 81kg weight category, breaking three national youth records:
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Snatch: 140 kg
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Clean and Jerk: 172 kg
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Total Lift: 312 kg
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He finished comfortably ahead of:
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M. Tarun (Andhra Pradesh) – 287 kg
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Aayush Rana (Uttar Pradesh) – 264 kg
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🏃♂️ Athletics Record Blitz at Patliputra Sports Complex:
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Long Jump:
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Jithin Arjunan (Tamil Nadu) – 7.65m
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Broke 2022 record (7.42m) by Aryan Choudhary
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400m (U18 Boys):
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Kadir Khan (Uttar Pradesh) – 47.67 sec
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Erased 2019 record (48.34 sec) by Abdul Razzak
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110m Hurdles (Boys):
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Saif Farooq Chafekar (Maharashtra) – 13.48 sec (new meet record)
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100m Hurdles:
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Shourya Ambure (Maharashtra) – 14.11 sec (gold medal)
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Discus Throw (Boys):
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Hansraj Dhayal (Rajasthan) – 63.18m (new meet record)
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3000m (Boys):
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Rohit Shivaji Binnar (Maharashtra) – 8:29.16 (beat 2024 record by Vikas Kumar Bind)
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Shot Put (Girls):
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Alka Singh (Bihar) – 14.73m (gold-winning second attempt)
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🥋 Kalarippayattu Surge:
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Kerala emerged dominant, sweeping all three golds on offer and lifting their total to four golds, moving up from 11th to 6th on the medal table.
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Jammu and Kashmir ended their dry spell since 2021 with a bronze by Nitin Kumar in chuvadukal individual.
With athletics heating up, weightlifters making history, and traditional martial arts like kalarippayattu gaining momentum, the Khelo India Youth Games continue to highlight India’s emerging sports talent across disciplines.
