Pune: Three Youth Olympic Games gold medallists, pistol shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker and weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga are among the cream of India’s young sporting talent that will make the Khelo India Youth Games, beginning here on Wednesday, a spectacle to look forward to.
The Jaspal Rana-trained Saurabh Chaudhary was in red hot form last year when he shot his way to gold in major competitions last year like the Asian Games, ISSF World Junior Championships, the Youth Olympics and the Asian Air Gun championships. Manu Bhaker added the Youth Olympics gold to her success in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
Jeremy Lalrinnunga, who competed for Maharashtra in the Khelo India School Games last year since he is with Army Boys Sports Company in Pune, caught everyone’s attention by becoming the first Indian to win gold at the Youth Olympic Games, finishing on top the heap in the 62kg class in Buenos Aires.
Together with Youth Olympic Games silver medal winners, recurve archer Akash Malik and air rifle shooter Mehuli Ghosh, the quintet can be expected to be the cynosure at the celebration of India’s young sporting talent over the coming fortnight. But, there are other wonderful achievers too, athletes who have held India’s banner aloft in the international arena.
Sakshi Chaudhary, who won the AIBA World Youth boxing championship (57kg class) in Budapest in September last, Asian champions Anamika Hooda (51kg) and Manisha (64kg) as well as Bhavesh Kattimani, a World Youth Championship bronze medal winner are among the decorated boxers in the fray.
Deepak Punia, who claimed the UWW World Junior championship freestyle silver medal, and Sajan Bhanwal, who created history by becoming the first Indian Greco-Roman wrestler to win a silver medal in the UWW World Junior championship, will be among the grapplers whose work ethic in honing their talent can be a great example for their fellow competitors in Pune.
Asian Junior champion Sachin Rathi (74kgclass) and other Asian junior medallists Suraj Kokate (63kg) and Vishal Kaliraman (70kg) are also expected to feature prominently in the business end of their competition. On the track, of course, it would be PT Usha-trainee Jisna Mathew, a double Asian junior championship gold medallist, who will draw attention.
