Mumbai: In a bid to give para sports a lift in the state, the Maharashtra Para Sports organized a meet for young athletes at Khar Gymkhana recently .Leading real estate company Ekta World, in association with an NGO called Happy Foundation and The Sports Authority of India , organized the three-day event for boys and girls in the U-12, U-15, U-18 and over-18 categories, in eight individual and two team sports.

EKTA World Maharashtra Para Sports received an overwhelming response from the citizens and athletes across the country. Almost 800 para athletes from all across Maharashtra participated in following sports disciplines like Badminton, Chess, Carrom, Lawn Tennis, Table Tennis, Swimming and Karate (all individual events) and Box Cricket and Rink Football (team events).

Om Lotlikar claimed top honours in table tennis, winning the Open category title. In the final, the Mumbai paddler was in complete control and easily defeated Sanjay Ayachit (Latur) 11-3, 11-4, 11-2.

Similarly, Amit Kumar Singh’s all-round show helped Team-B record a 25-run victory against Team-A in a wheelchair box cricket league match. Team-B scored 61 for five in six overs, then restricted Team-A to 36 for four in six overs.

In table tennis, Suryakant P. recovered brilliantly after dropping the first game to defeat RakeshRoshan 4-11, 11-6, 11-7 in a hard-fought quarterfinal match.

Yash Savardekar and Ruhi Shingade bagged the men’s and women’s badminton crowns. Yash defeated Mark Dharmai with 21-6 in the men’s final, Ruhi outplayed Prajakta Rawate 21-7 in the women’s title clash.

U-18: Boys: Ayush Somkumar defeated Sayyad Zuber 21-11 and in girls category Pooja Zaveri beats Nilam Maurya 21-5.

The winners and runners-up were presented with trophies, medals, certificates and cash awards. Every para athlete received a T-shirt, participation certificate. EKTA WORLD Maharashtra Para Sports is powered by Khar Gymkhana and organized by Sports Authority of India.