GAYA/PATNA, May 9: Odisha girls pulled off a massive upset by beating defending champion Maharashtra in a close encounter 34-31 in Kho-kho competition of the Khelo India Youth Games 2025 Bihar at the BIPARD Sports Complex here on Friday. Maharashtra, however, had sweet revenge and also maintained its dominance in the boys’ final, beating Odisha 34-25.
The girls’ final was fiercely contested. Led by an outstanding performance by Samarnika Sahu, who scored 12 points, Odisha emerged victorious. This win marked redemption for Odisha, which had to settle for silver in the 2024 edition in Tamil Nadu. This time, the team wrote a new chapter in Odisha’s sports history.
The win was hard-earned. Odisha was trailing 10-16 at one stage but showed incredible resilience and fighting spirit to come back strong to clinch the title.
The Odisha girls coach Chaudhury Parthasarathi Mohapatra was jubilant after the final.
In contrast, the boys’ final followed a different script. Odisha’s boys, despite a strong start, couldn’t keep pace with the experienced Maharashtra team and eventually lost 34-25, securing the silver medal.The boys’ bronze went to Karnataka and Punjab.
J&K WIN VOLLEYBALL GOLD
At a time when the Kashmir valley is facing air strikes and drone attacks following the heartbreaking Pahalgam terror attacks, four young boys from the region have offered a different storyline, with an amalgam of courage, resilience, focus and gold.
Jammu and Kashmir boys’ volleyball team opened the State’s account in the medal tally with a gold by defeating Uttar Pradesh 3-1 in a hard-fought final. The score line reading 35-33, 19-25, 25-17, 25-21 tells its own story of a gripping contest, but the real story lies in the hearts of the players who made it happen.
Just a couple of weeks before the final, the Pahalgam terror attack on innocent tourists had left the valley shaken. Yet here they were, blocking, spiking, diving – playing not with fear, but with fire. (IANS)
