Maharashtra State Olympic Games 2023: Tejaswini Sawant, Pushkaraj Ingaole clinch 50m Rifle Prone gold medals

by Prashant Kapadia/NHN

Kolhapur wrestlers win 3 out of 5 gold medals by Prashant Kapadia/NHNPune, Jan. : Olympian Tejaswini Sawant of Kolhapur and Pushkaraj Ingaole of Ratnagiri bagged the first two gold medals of the Maharashtra State Olympics Games 2023 comfortably, bagging the top spot in the 50m Rifle Prone Women and Men shooting events respectively at the Balewadi Stadium here on Tuesday.

Sawant, a former world champion in 50m Rifle Prone, proved her command over the discipline with a score of 618 points, beating second-placed Bhakti Khamkar of Mumbai by a margin of 4.5 points. Pune’s Pranali Suryawanshi bagged the bronze with a total of 611.7 points.

Three-time Olympian Anjali Bhagwat only managed a score of 603.8 and finished sixth.

In the Men’s 50m Prone event, Ingaole finished with a total of 621.7 points after six series to clinch the gold medal. Kolhapur’s Indrajeet Mohite won the silver medal with a total of 618 points while Abhijitsinh J of Pune bagged the bronze medal with a total of 612.9.

In Nagpur, Greater Mumbai upset inter-district champions Thane 2-1 to reach the final of the badminton women’s team championship. They will face second seeds Pune, who defeated Nagpur by an identical margin.

In the Men’s Team competition, Thane rode on their doubles prowess to upset top seeds Nagpur 3-2 to set up a summit clash against Pune, who got the better of Greater Mumbai team 3-1.

In women’s wrestling, grapplers from Kolhapur dominated the proceedings, with bagging three out of the five golds on offer on Tuesday.

2021 Senior National Champion Nandini Salokhe kicked off the district’s gold medal charge by beating her training partner at the Sadashivrao Mandlik Wrestling Centre in Murgud, Neha Chowghule, by fall.

Vishranti Patil then added second gold for Kolhapur with a dominating win over Anjali Patil of Sangli in the 55kg final. Amruta Pujari, representing Kolhapur city, then defeated Shrushti Bhosale of the district to clinch the 65kg gold.

Ahmednagar’s Bhagyashri Fand broke Kolhapur’s hegemony by defeating Ankita Shinde of Kolhapur in the 59kg final before Vedantika Pawar of Satara completed the day’s proceedings with an easy win over Sayali Dandawat of Kolhapur.

Men’s finals will begin later in the evening. At the time of writing, competitions were still at the initial stages in yogasana (Nashik) and softball (Jalgaon) too.

Key results
Shooting:
(50m Rifle Prone, Men): 1. Pushkaraj Ingaole (Ratnagiri; Gold); 2. Indrajeet Mohite (Kolhapur; Silver); 3. Abhijitsinh J (Pune; bronze).
(50m Rifle Prone, Women): 1. Tejaswini Sawant (Kolhapur; Gold); 2. Bhakti Khamkar (Mumbai; Silver)3. Pranali Suryawanshi (Pune; Bronze)

Badminton:
Team Championship (Men; semifinals): Thane beat Nagpur 3-2; Pune beat Greater Mumbai 3-1
Team Championship (Women; semifinals): Greater Mumbai beat Thane 2-1; Pune beat Nagpur 2-1

Softball:
Men: Pune bt Aurangabad 11-0; Ahmednagar bt Solapur 10-0; Amaravati bt Yatmal 1-0; Jalgaon bt Latur 5-1; Pune bt Yavatmal 4-1; A’Nagar bt Latur 2-1

Women: Pune bt Akola 8-2; Jalgaon bt Amravati 1-0; Pune bt Sangli 2-0; Kolhapur bt Navi Mumbai 4-0; Pune bt Sangli 6-0; Jalgaon bt Navi Mumbai 1-0