Khelo India University Games 2023: Records tumble as Panjab University pip Guru Nanak Dev University for title
As many as 11 meet records were rewritten at the third edition of the Khelo India University Games. Know new records and details.
Chandigarh’s Panjab University, with 26 gold medals and a total tally of 69, won the Khelo India University Games 2023 title in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev University, with 24 golds from a cumulative haul of 68 medals, were not far behind. Last year’s winner, Karnataka’s Jain University, led by national swimming record holder Siva Sridhar, came third with 16 golds and 32 medals.
As many as 11 new records were rewritten at the third edition of the Khelo India University Games, which is part of the government of India’s Khelo India initiative.
Siva Sridhar, who holds India’s national record in the 200m individual medley, won gold in the 400m individual medley at KIUG with a new meet record of 4:37.21. Out of their total of 16 gold medals, Jain University won a whopping 13 gold medals in swimming competitions. Eight of those 13 were clinched by Siva Sridhar.
While Siva Sridhar was the most successful male athlete at KIUG 2023, his fellow Jain University teammate Shrungi Bandekar won five gold and four silver medals to emerge as the most successful women’s athlete in the event.
Among the most notable meet records created at KIUG was Vikrant Malik’s impressive 80.00m javelin throw. The student of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology easily eclipsed the previous best of Rishabh Nehra’s 76.64m set last year.
In the women’s hammer throw, Tanya Chaudhary of Chaudhary Charan Singh University, became the first women athlete to breach the 60m mark at Khelo India University Games with an effort of 60.61m. The national record in women’s hammer throw is Sarita Singh’s 65.25m, set in Patiala in 2017.
The 22-year-old Samardeep Singh Gill of Barkatullah University also broke the 18m-barrier in the men’s shot put with an exceptional 18.75m throw - a new KIUG record.
The Khelo India University Games 2023 began on May 25 and concluded on June 3. Four cities across Uttar Pradesh - Lucknow, Varanasi, Greater Noida and Gorakhpur - hosted a majority of events. Shooting events, meanwhile, were held in New Delhi.
At KIUG 2023, around 4,000 athletes, all in the under-27 category, from 205 top universities from across the country participated in the events across 21 different sports.
Rowing, which made its debut at KIUG this year, was dominated by eventual champions Panjab University. They won as many as 11 gold medals in rowing, followed by six gold medals in shooting.
The medals in those two events proved to be the deciding factor for the title as Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev University, with just two gold medals less, had to settle for second place in KIUG 2023.