Guwahati, Feb 26 (IANS): Sprinter Sonia ran a brilliant anchor leg to overtake three opponents and helped Chaudhary Ranbir Singh University clinch the 4x100m relay gold in the 4th Khelo India University Games 2023, Ashtalakshmi, at the Indira Gandhi Stadium here on Monday.
When Sonia got the baton, Chaudhary Ranbir Singh University were in the fourth spot and almost 15 metres behind the leader. But she began accelerating once she hit the straight line and comfortably crossed the finish line to kick off a grand celebration by the team members. The quartet clocked a time of 48.61s with the University of Calicut (48.87s) and Mahatma Gandhi University (48.87s) taking the silver and bronze respectively in a photo finish.
Speaking after the race, Sonia said she had a special feeling even before the start of the race that she could go quite fast in the anchor leg and was happy that she could deliver for the team. “Today is our coach Surender Singh’s birthday and this is our birthday gift to him,” said the trainee of NCOE Patiala.
However, there was no catching up at the top of the overall medal standing with Chandigarh University extending their lead further at the top. The table toppers became the first University to cross the 50-medal mark and had already garnered 23 gold, 15 silver and 16 bronze at the time of writing.
Lovely Professional University continued to be in second position with 12 gold, 10 silver and three bronze while third-placed Jain University added two gold medals to their tally through Kusuma Ravada (Long Jump) and women’s tennis team gold to take their medals tally to 10 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze. Jain University girls defeated the University of Delhi 2-0 in the final at the Chachal Sports Complex with N. Pratibha and Suhitha Maruri winning both their singles matches rather easily. KIIT University clinched the men’s tennis team gold with a 2-1 victory over SRM University.
In the fencing competition, Manipur University’s W. Sonia Devi ended the unbeaten run of Guru Nanak Dev University’s Riya Bakshi in the Women’s Foil category with a 15-10 victory. Bakshi, who had won gold in all three earlier editions of KIUG, was considered the favourite to maintain her 100%-win record but was caught off guard by the offensive approach of her opponent. Manipur University’s Naoren Mina Devi and Guru Nanak Dev University’s VP Kanagalakshmi bagged the bronze medals.
In the track and field competition, Vikas Khodke of Shivaji University tripped five meters from the finish line and had to settle for a silver in the 110m hurdles with a timing of 14.61s. His attempt to cross the line while trying to balance himself allowed the University of Mumbai’s Sahil Gedam to pip him by a whisker for the gold. Gedam clocked a time of 14.60s while Sushanth MD of Davangere University took bronze with a time of 14.84s.