ATHLETES of PAH Solapur University fetched four golds on Sunday to take the contingent atop the medal tally in the 25th Maharashtra State Inter-University Sports Festival ‘Krida Mahotsav’ being hosted at the Sports Complex of Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU). Solapur’s Niraj Maharnavar got gold in men’s javelin throw for a winsome throw of 62.31 metres. Arun Rathod won men’s 5000m running with a timing of 14:33.79 min. Sayali Tonpe won yellow metal in women’s 800m run by hitting it in 2:26.97 minutes. Sujata Babar secured a gold in women’s high jump by clearing 1.45 metres. With Sunday’s four, Solapur now have six gold medals. Close behind are, Shivaji University, Kolhapur; RTMNU and KBC North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon, with three gold medals each.

 

RTMNU, who bagged three golds on the opening day, did not win a single on Sunday. The athletes won two silver and two bronze medals. Swati Uikey got silver in women’s long jump with a leap of 5.41m. Gital Sonekar got bronze in women’s 800m running clocking 2:28.42 min. Men and women runners won a bronze each in 4x100m relays. Shivaji University, Kolhapur won all three golds on Sunday. KBC North Maharashtra University bagged two golds. RTMNU has qualified for the knock-outs of table tennis in both men’s and women’s categories. Men’s team will face Shivaji University whereas women will fight with Mumbai University in semi-finals.

 

In basketball, RTMNU’s women’s team is lined up against Savitribai Phule Pune University in semi-final. In volleyball, RTMNU’s women’s team will be clashing with SNDT Women’s University Mumbai. Unlike most of earlier editions, underdog universities are up high in the medal tally. Coaches say that Pune and Mumbai universities have been dominating this fest. These universities won most of the times. But, as a result of improving infrastructure, other universities are catching up well. Players from 23 universities from all across Maharashtra will bring out their best in the finals slated for the concluding day. Only one university will get the honour to be the champions in this silver jubilee year of Maharashtra State Inter-University Sports Festival.