BCU face GNDU for hockey gold

Bengaluru: Striker Harish Mutagar again emerged as the star performer as defending champions Bengaluru City University (BCU) survived a nervous shootout to advance to the men's hockey final at the Khelo India University Games here on Saturday. BCU edged Savitribai Phule University 5-3 in the shootout after the two teams were locked 2-2 at full-time.
Mutagar helped BCU forge ahead in the 15th minute but a brace from Mayur Dhanawade put Savitribai in control. But the home team equalized with just two minutes left on the clock with Vasanth Kumar connecting a fine pass from Mutagar.
Gadag lad Mutagar was again in focus in the shootout. With BCU leading 4-3, he calmly made it 5-3 to take his team into the title round. Captain Punith R, Ganesh Majji, Sridhar N, Vasanth were the other scorers for BCU in the shootout while Sanjay HT excelled under the bar for BCU.
In Sunday’s final, BCU will take on Guru Nanak Dev University who got the better of Pool B winners Punjabi University 5-3 via the penalty shootout. The two teams were locked goalless at full-time. "Being the defending champions, we had a lot of pressure and reaching the final has given us that much-needed boost to win the gold. We didn't have enough time to prepare for the tournament as most of us were playing for the state team at the Senior Nationals. We have made the best of what we had. We are facing our toughest rivals tomorrow and we are hoping for the best,” Punith said.
Laxmi bags 10,000m gold
At the Sree Kanteerava stadium, Mangalore’s Vignesh A set a new meet record as he won the men’s 100m gold in a new record time of 10.50 seconds. He bettered the 10.68s mark set by Kathiravan G in 2020 as he pipped Bharathiar’s Tamilarasu S who clocked 10.51s. Olympian Dutee Chand, competing in her last KIUG, won the women’s title in a time of 11.68 seconds. Avantika Narale of Savitribai Phule varsity took the silver in 11.81 seconds.
Earlier, Laxmi battled the Bengaluru heat to bag the gold in women’s 10,000m and open Mangalore’s medal hunt in athletics. The 23-year-old from Kashipur, Uttarakhand, whose father rides a horse cart to make a living, rushed to board the Rajdhani Express in the evening after the victory ceremony. “I have to go back to my hometown for my passport as I have qualified for the World University Games. It felt good to win the gold but I was not happy with my time,” said Laxmi, who is doing her Diploma in Sports Coaching at Alva’s College. This was her second gold in two months, the first coming at the inter-university meet. Mangalore won a third gold in women’s 1500m. Radha Singh prevailed in 4 minutes, 31:43 seconds beating a strong challenge from Sunita of Himachal (4:32.07). In men’s discus throw, Basukesh Poonia (51.54m) bagged the silver while Anil Kumar Sahoo came second in men’s long jump with a leap of 7.27m. Mangalore ended the day with three gold and two silver medals.
Select results: . Athletics: Men: 10,000m: 1. Arif Ali (Jannayak Chandrashekhar, 30:26.40s); 2. Rohit Yadav (Nehru Gram Bharati, 31:33.11); 3. Harish (Maharshi Dayanand, 31:33.14). 400m hurdles: 1. Rohan Kamble (Shivaji, 52.22s); 2. Pravin Kumar (Madurai Kamaraj, 52.43); 3. S Surendar (Bharathiar, 52.45). Discus throw: 1. Abhinav (Lovely, 54.64m. NMR. Old: P Kumar Nehra, 50.47, 2020); 2. Basukesh Poonia (Mangalore, 51.54); 3. Pruthviraj Nalawade (Savitribai, 49.04). Women: 10,000m: 1. KM Laxmi (Mangalore, 35:49.23 NMR. Old: 35:59.58, Jyoti, 2020); 2. Bharti (Maharshi Dayanand, 36:20.25); 3. Badho (Maharshi Dayanand, 36:44.40). 400mH: 1. Arathi R (Calicut, 59.10s); 2. Pragyan Prasant Sahu (Lovely, 59.48); 3. Gudiya (RML, 1:00.09). Fencing: Women: Foil: 1. Riya Bakshi (Guru Nanak), 2. Kanagalaksmhi VP (Kannur), 3. Anita Chanu (Manipur). Epee: 1. Linthoi Haobam (Manipur); 2. Chhavi Kohli (Panjab); 3. Sheetal Dalal (Guru Nanak) & Srividya R (UAC, Bangalore). Hockey: Men (semifinals): Guru Nanak Dev 0 (5) bt Punjabi 0 (3); Bangalore City 2 (5) (Harish Mutagar 15, Vasanth Kumar 58) bt Savitribai Phule Pune 2 (3) (Mayur Dhanawade 31, 54). Women (semifinals): Mysore 2 (2) (MP Shaina 47, MG Yashika 53) bt Punjabi 2 (0) (Navjot Kaur 3, Yashika Negi 44). Kabaddi: Women: Group B: Mangalore bt Guru Nanak 34-30; Maharshi Dayanand University bt Mangalore 31-24. Karate: Women Kata: 1. Mesom (Lovely); 2. Deia Urs (Mysore); 3. PP Farshana (Calicut), Priyanak Srinivasan (Anna). Table Tennis: Women's Team: Group D: Jain bt Jadavpur 3-1 (Samyuktha A bt Surbhi Patwari 10-12,12-14,8-11; Kushi V bt Sreetama Biswas 11-2,11-6,11-6; Aditi Joshi bt Sudarshana Patra 13-11,11-7,11-3; Kushi V bt Surbhi Patwari 5-11,11-6,5-11,15-13,13-11).