KIUG: Cyclist Meenakshi Rohilla clinches first gold of 2025 Games

Jaipur, Nov 25 (PTI) Guru Nanak Dev University cyclist Meenakshi Rohilla grabbed the first gold medal of the 2025 Khelo India University Games in the women's individual time trial here on Tuesday.

Kajol Sargar of Shivaji University clinched the weightlifting gold in women's 48kg and Lovely Professional University's Sakshi Padekar won the women's 10m air rifle gold as sports action began across multiple venues in the state.

With cycling making its debut in the KIUG program, it was only befitting that the first gold medal went to a player who was also returning to road events after a long time.

Meenakshi, a 2022 Asian Championships bronze medallist in Team Pursuit, proved that she was a force even in road racing as she bagged the gold medal here with a well-calculated race strategy.

The 23-year-old was trailing local favourite Pooja Bishnoi of Maharaja Ganga Singh University for the first lap of 10 kms but gathered pace thereafter to finish the 30km Individual Time Trial with a timing of 00:45:31.907, averaging a speed of 39.5 km/hr.

"Today, my strategy was to stay patient, maintain my rhythm and not rush early. I focused on conserving energy in the beginning and gradually increased pace. Once I took the lead, my goal was to stay consistent and control the race. The strategy worked exactly as planned," said Meenakshi told SAI Media.

Bishnoi took home the silver medal with a time of 00:46:52.003 while Savitribai Phule Pune University's Apurva Gore won the bronze medal with a time of 00:47:24.933.

Manav Sarda clinched the first gold medal for Maharaja Ganga Singh University in the men's 40km Individual Time Trial with a dominant performance throughout.

Averaging a speed of 46 km/hr, Sarda stopped the clock at 00:52:12.947 while Jai Dogra of Panjab University (00:53:14.315) and Gaurang Singh Gaur of Lovely Professional University (00:54:32:813) bagged the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

At the Jagatpura shooting range, Sakshi bagged the women's 10m air rifle gold with a final score of 253.2. Disha Dhankhar of Panjab University won the silver with 252 points while R Narmada Nithin of University of Madras won the bronze medal with a total of 230.5.

Sakshi had also topped the qualification round with a total of 633.5 and helped the University also grab the team gold along with Priyanka Das and Sanjeeta Das with a total of 1884 points.

In the weightlifting competition in Bikaner, Kajol Sargar of Shivaji University bagged the gold medal in the women's 48kg category with a total of 158kg.

The 19-year-old from Sangli, Maharashtra took a big lead in snatch as she lifted a 73kg in her second attempt, almost seven kilograms more than Chandigarh University's Rani Nayak. She then lifted 85kg in Clean & Jerk to assure herself of the gold medal.

Rinki Nayak of Berhampur University topped the Clean & Jerk standing with a lift of 86kg in her third attempt to grab the silver medal with an aggregate of 149kg while Rani won the bronze with a total lift of 148kg. PTI AH AH AT AT