KIUG 2021: Jetlee Singh strikes gold; upsets galore in shooting and archery (round-up)

Bengaluru, April 29 (IANS) Guru Nanak Dev University's Chingakham Jetlee Singh lived up to his billing in the men's epee, beating his teammate Shubham to strike gold in the fencing competition at the Khelo India University Games (KIUG) 2021 here on Friday.

Jetlee, a TOPS athlete, was one of four GNDU medallists -- the most by any - in fencing on Friday. Jetlee was one of the few who held on, on a day of upsets.

The biggest upset came from the SAI NCOE Centre in the city, where the shooting events are underway.

Lovely Professional University's Sartaj Singh Tiwana beat Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar in the final of the 50m 3 position for men to take gold. Tomar, representing Guru Nanak Dev University was top of the pile at the end of the qualification.

With one eye on the athletics extravaganza set to begin on Friday, a day of high action concluded at the KIUG 2021 on Thursday. At the end of the day, 42 universities had won at least a gold while 92 had made their presence felt on the medal table.

In all, 13 medals were up for grabs in the competition on Thursday, with the action centered on the piste, as fencing kicked off at the games.

Archery stayed true to form, the curse of topping qualification is looming strong, and there were upsets aplenty on the menu. In the first knockout round of the men's recurve, Lovely Professional University's Aditya Choudhary, who had topped the qualification, bowed out to Ch Charan Singh University's Nishant.

It took the women's recurve to break the curse courtesy of Adamas University's Ruma Biswas.

Biswas had topped the women's qualification, and progressed through the knockouts with relative ease, before falling in the semi-finals to Guru Jambeshwar University's Bhavna.

As evening fell -- along with a light shower over the city -- the Kanteerva burst into life with track and field athletes from over forty disciplines hitting the warm-up track. Among them were some of the best young athletes in the country -- the undoubted star Asian Games silver medallist Dutee Chand. In addition to Dutee, 400m runner Priya Mohan and long jumper Ancy Sojan have also entered into their respective events.

"A lot of athletes participating at the KIUG 2021 have a tremendous amount of international exposure," Priya Mohan said. "This is great for upcoming athletes and the competition, and puts pressure on those with experience. It's a great platform."

The competition will kick off early in the morning, with the two longest distance running events (men and women 10,000m) up first. In all, 12 medals will be up for grabs throughout the day. The highlight will be the men's and women's 100m. Dutee Chand is entered in the women's 100m race.