News Analysis India

Tag: Khelo India Youth Games

  • Khelo India Youth Games: Dreams Come True For School Bus Driver’s Daughter As She Wins Bronze; Read Story Of Wrestler Tannu | Other

    At 4.30 in the morning, Jagdish Gulia and his eight-year-old daughter Tannu were glued to television watching Indian women wrestling at the 2016 Rio Olympics. When Sakshi Malik turned the bout on its head in the dying seconds to secure bronze, both Jagdish and Tannu embraced each other in celebration. It was at this moment when Jagdish, a school bus driver in Haryana, decided that Tannu would become a grappler. On the other hands, Tannu was even more excited thinking about the traveling opportunities she would be getting as an athlete.

    She took one step closer to that dream when she won the bronze medal in the 65kg weight category at the Rajarathinam stadium on Tuesday.

    “My father would have been happy with gold, but it’s okay. Unlike the last edition where I was eliminated in the second round and returned empty-handed, this time I have something to show to my father,” said Tannu, who went about displaying her medal around the arena.

    Usually, her father travels with her to most competitions, but this time his school did not sanction his leave so she was accompanied by her uncle Narendra and younger cousin sister Sakshi, who could not win a medal.

    Tannu has so far won four medals, including the bronze medal here. She bagged the Under-19 School Games gold in 2023; bronze at Under-17 Cadet Ranking Series in 2022 and Under-14 School National Games in 2019.

    “In the next Khelo India Youth Games you will see me take the gold. I will leave no stone unturned and work hard from here on. The opportunity and medal at Khelo India Youth Games has pumped me up enough. I know I deserve bigger and better,” Tannu added.

    She said her father, despite his low earnings, has done everything to look after wrestler’s diet. “He feeds me everything to keep me strong. My uncle has even bought a buffalo so that there is no shortage of milk and ghee,” she revealed.

  • Khelo India Youth Games: Judoka Shahin Comes From Gujarat’s ‘Mini Africa’, Clinches Gold In 57kg Category; Read Her Incredible Story | Other

    One would mistakenly count Shahin Darjada, seated with cornrows decorated with beads on her head, as some sports fans enjoying an outing at the indoor hall of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium where the judo competitions of the ongoing Khelo India Youth Games are being held. Hailing from Jambur village, popularly known as the ‘Mini Africa’ of Gujarat, Shahin walked away with a gold medal in 57kg category with a convincing win over Himachal Pradesh’s Rupanshi in the final.

    There are a couple of more players hailing from the region, situated around 20km from Gir, and has served as a home to Siddi community, which is of African origin.

    Shahin, who recently won a silver medal at the Asian Junior Judo Championship in Tashkent, now has two gold, one silver and a one bronze from her four appearances in the Khelo India Youth Games.

    “It was an easy bout for me. The opponent did not trouble me as I carried experience of four Khelo India competitions. It was my opponent’s first Khelo India final. I was in complete control of the bout right from the beginning. Happy that my Khelo India journey comes to an end with a gold,” she said after winning the final.

    The 18-year-old said her performance started to improve once she shifted to the Vijayi Bharat Sports Academy (VBSA) in Ahmedabad where she started training under Georgian coach, Lasa Kizilashvili from 2022.

    Speaking about her future, Kizilashvili said “She trains hard at the academy. She follows every instruction given to her. A promising future lies before her. If you ask me, she is an Olympic material.”


    A Class 12 student of Somnath Academy in her native village, Shahin is one of the six siblings and counts herself as a fortunate one to have supportive parents. Shahin’s father works in the government circuit house while her mother is a housewife.

    “It was in 2016 when my father first took me to a sports academy, and I had no clue about which sport to pick. I spent around two years at the DLSS (District Level Sports School) in Rajkot where I finally found judo as an interesting choice, and then got my skills fine-tuned at another academy in Nadiad for the next five years and went on to win my first KIYG gold (in Guwahati),” she recalled.

    Last year, she participated in the junior World Championships and that experienced helped her pocket the gold medals at the junior National Championships and the Cadet Nationals.

    “My coaches Lal Krishnan Baghel and Lasa Kizilashvili have been really supportive, and instrumental in my transformation. I have been able to get international exposures which has boosted my confidence, and gearing up to bag a gold in my final KIYG,” she said.

    While she has another couple of years in the junior circuit, Shahin has her eyes on the big stage, and hopes to fulfills her parent’s wishes by representing India at the highest levels.