Medal eludes Orissa in Junior National Judo

Host Orissa`s quest for a medal continued to remain unfulfilled at the end of third day of the Junior National Championship at KIIT University campus in Bhubaneswar today. Garima Choudhury (UP) stole the day`s glory when she beat Nayana Pal (Delhi) to win the gold medal in 17-20 girls 63kg weight class. This was the sixth Junior National gold for international Garima, who helped UP occupy the second position in the medals tally with three gold medals. Haryana, however, continued the lead the tally with seven gold, two silver and six bronze medals after completion of 18 events. Host Orissa’s desparate bid for a medal failed to bore fruit as four more judokas of the state bowed out in the first round. Results: Girls 17-20 years: 52kg: 1. Priyanka Das (MP), 2. Seema (Har), 3. Vandana (Pun) and Sanjoti Musade (Mah-B). 57kg: 1. Naveen (Har), 2. Surekha Sirsat (Mah-B), 3. Gagandeep Kaur (Pun) and Sweta Thakur (J&K). 63kg: 1. Garima Choudhury (UP), 2. Nayana Pal (Del), 3. Saran Banarasi (MP) and Kiran Pithe (Mah-B). 73kg: 1. Krishan (Del), 2. Sukhpal (Pun), 3. Deepak (Raj) and Varinder Singh (Utk). Girls 14-17 years: 52kg: 1. Madhu Das (MP), 2. Lal Rimawi (Miz), 3. Ramandeep (Har) and Jibisha (Ker). 63kg: 1. Rekha (Har), 2. Sunibala (Man), 3. Nupur Choudhury (Utk) and Ruma Gupta (UP). Boys 14-17: 60kg: 1. Narendra (Har), 2. Karan Thakur (Pun), 3. Jaswinder Singh (Chd) and Akash Tatwade (MP). PHOTOS: TOP: Two girls fight for medals at the Junior National Championship in Bhubaneswar on Oct 2, 2009. BOTTOM: Orissa State Judo Association secretary Gitanjali Panda (L) with Judo Federation of India secretary Mukesh Kumar in Bhubaneswar on Oct 2, 2009.