Rupali, Shubhankar steal show with four gold medals each

Rupali Gangawane and Shubhankar Khawle

Rupali Gangawane and Shubhankar Khawle, clinched four gold medals each to help Maharashtra bag the overall team championship at the Senior National Mallakhamb Competition in Ujjain recently.

Mumbai's Gangawane, 23, outclassed her competitors in the pole and rope category and followed it up with gold medals in the overall performance and team championship too.

Among the men, Pune-based Khawle, 17, emerged victorious in the rope, hanging, overall performance and team championship, but had to be satisfied with the silver in the pole event, where Mumbai's Sagar Rane won the gold.

Both Gangawane and Khawle are keen to work hard to continue their good form at the Mallakhamb World Championship (MWC) to be held in the USA next year.

Mumbai's Deepak Shinde, 25, who won two gold and three silver medals at the 2019 MWC in Mumbai, returned without a gold this time, but clinched four silver medals.
Around 700 players from 25 state teams participated in the competition with Maharashtra emerging champions after bagging as many as 60 medals.