Gaya, May 8 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh’s Devendra Patidar and Sidhi Gupta emerged the most successful athletes in the Khelo India Youth Games 2025 Mallakhamb competition, which concluded in the IIM Campus here. Devendra Patidar finished with four gold and Sidhi Gupta with three.
Devendra Patidar added three individual gold medals to the team title won on the opening day. He was in top form and won the All-round and Pole competitions, edging out Rakesh Kumar Werda (Chhattisgarh) in the latter event despite tying on scores, the chief judge’s higher score enabling him to bag the top spot.
However, even the chief judge found it hard to break the tie between Devendra Patidar and Nishant Pappu Lokhande (Maharashtra) in the Hanging final. Rohith Sairam (Tamil Nadu) handed Devendra Patidar his only defeat in the competition by performing better than the Madhya Pradesh star on the Rope.
Patidar basked in the newfound attention but said he had exceeded his expectations. “Honestly speaking, I didn’t think I would be fetching five medals from the competition. This has really motivated me. I will try to get better,” said the 17-year-old star.
Maharashtra’s athletes picked up a second gold through Aarya Jayvantrao Salunkhe (Rope), who stopped Sidhi Gupta from making a clean sweep of the individual gold medals.
Mallakhamb Steering Committee Chairman Yogesh Malviya said the sky is the limit for the indigenous sport. “Khelo India Youth Games is a big platform for Mallakhamb, thanks to the Government’s vision for indigenous sports. From what I have seen so far, the sport is gaining wider popularity,” he said.
–IANS
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