Pune : Thane lass Shaina Deshpande became the first gold medallist of the MLA Cup 48th State Level Junior (Boys and Girls) Judo Championship 2022, conducted under the aegis of the Maharashtra Judo Association (MJA), at the Maharashtra Mandal Hall, Tilak Road on Thursday.

In the title-clash of the 52-kg girls’ category, Shaina got the better of Diksha Khare of Gondia by an Ippon to bag the top spot.

In bronze medal play offs, Sanika Shedge of Pune District Judo Association (PDJA) downed Gunjan Patil of Dhule, while in the other bout Ketki Gore of Nagpur defeated Diksha Madvi of Wardha. Both Sanika Shedge and Diksha Madvi were awarded bronze medals.

Earlier, Maharashtra Judo Association Vice President Rajkumar Punkar inaugurated the event in the presence of MJA General Secretary Shailesh Tilak, Secretary, Technical Committee Head, Datta Aphale, President of BJP Kasba Constituency Pramod Kondhare, Rajendra Kakad, Chhagan Bulakhe, General Secretary Adv. Ranitai Kamble, Kasba Mahila Aghadi President Ashwini Pandey and Yuva Morcha president Amit Kank.