KIUG 2021: Jain University bags overall championships; Shiv Sridhar reigns supreme

Bengaluru, May 3

The University of Kota, Rajasthan outplayed Ch Bansi Lal University, Bhiwani (HAR) in the final to claim the men's kabaddi crown as the Khelo India University Games 2021 concluded here on Tuesday with hosts Jain University topping the medals chart and bagging the overall Championships.

The University of Kota got the better of Ch Bansi Lal University, Bhiwani 52-37 in the final while Dr. CV Raman University, Chhattisgarh and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (PUN) won the bronze medals.

In the women's final, Kurukshetra University defeated Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak 46-19 to win the gold medal. Himachal Pradesh University and Savitribai Phule Pune University claimed the bronze medals.

In the men's football final, MG University, Kottayam (KER) rode on goals by Hari Shankar KS (2nd min) and Arjun V (89th min) to beat the University of Kerala 2-0 to bag the gold medal. The bronze medal went to the University of Calicut and Panjab University.

While the last few events were conducted on Tuesday morning to draw the curtain on 10 days of competitions, the hosts Jain University ensured that there would be no complications to their grasp on the title, sealing it a day in advance courtesy of Priya Mohan's exploits on the track and two gold in Karate won by Syed Baba in the -55kg and another in the Team Men Kumite.

They ended up with 20 gold medals, three more than their closest competitors Lovely Professional University (17 gold, 15 silver, 19 bronze). While LPU ended up with the most medals of any university in the competition, their gold deficit saw them lose the title to the hosts. Defending champions Panjab University finished third (15 gold, 9 silver, 24 bronze).

The Games were also a great example of the growth and improvement in this level of competition since its last edition. In total 97 KIUG records were broken or equalled at KIUG 2021. A mind-boggling 42 were in weightlifting, 28 came in the pool, while 23 came in athletics. Two national records were also broken in the competition -- Siva Sridhar setting a new mark in the Men's 200m Individual Medley and MT Ann Mariya breaking the clean and jerk record in the women's weightlifting +87kg class.

Sridhar was the runaway athlete of the Games, winning seven golds and two silvers in the competition. The swimmer also set a new KIUG mark with each gold he won in the pool. Swimmer Shrungi Bandekar's four gold and one silver make her the most successful female athlete at the games. Priya Mohan's 200m, 400m double secured her spot as the most dominant athlete on the track.