KIUG: Sadhvi Dhuri powers Pune University to top of charts

Bhubaneswar: Swimmer Sadhvi Dhuri landed a double gold while Mihir Ambre won his second title in the Khelo India University Games 2020 here on Tuesday to steer Savitribai Phule Pune University to the top of the charts with 7 gold and 14 medals.

Panjab University, Chandigarh, picked up a gold late in the afternoon through their opening day’s star Siddhanth Sejwal, to be in the second spot with 6 gold and 18 medals.

Jain University, Bengaluru and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar are next, also with six gold each but fewer silver and bronze. Punjabi University, Patiala, jumped to the fifth place with three gold from their archers.

On a rain-hit day in which the archery schedule was completed thanks to the herculean efforts of officials and volunteers at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, Punjabi University suffered a big blow, with top-ranked Sangampreet Singh Bisla losing to University of Rajasthan’s Mukul Sharma in the boys’ Compound final.

Sangampreet Bisla held a two-point lead after each of the first two sets but Mukul Sharma clawed his way back in the third set with three 10s to close the gap.

He repeated that feat under pressure in the fifth set to overcome the one-point advantage that his rival had opened up in the fourth. Mukul Sharma landed an X in the shoot-off while Sangampreet Bisla managed an 8 to score the upset win.

“I told myself not to be over-awed by the presence of a renowned archer and yet when I stepped up, I was quite nervous. But once I overcame the initial hesitation and calmed my nerves, I was able to shoot better,” Mukul Sharma said.

Just as Mukul Sharma beat World Youth Championship medalist Sangampreet Bisla, the unheralded Kritika Sharma did the star turn for University of Rajasthan in the women’s final by defeating favourite Raginee Markoo (Rani Dugrawati Vishwavidyalaya), also a World Youth Championship medalist.

The 19-year-old Sadhvi Dhuri was the toast of the swimming competitions on Tuesday, winning the 200m Freestyle comfortably in 2:14.99 and the 100m Butterfly after a close battle with Damini Gowda (Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences).

In one of the most exciting races, Sadhvi Dhuri won by a 0.60-second margin. The two wins increased her tally of gold here to three.

Siddhant Sejwal picked up Panjab University’s lone gold of the day by winning the 200m Freestyle gold in 2:01.28 to add to the 50m Backstroke and 4x100m Freestyle Relay crowns that he won earlier.

He has three events lined up on Wednesday and is hoping to edge out Mihir Ambre (Savitribai Phule Pune University) and the others as the most successful swimmer here.