Shuttlers lead Indian gold rush
Dhaka, Feb. 4: Shuttlers and shooters reigned supreme as India bagged 12 gold out of the 13 on offer to continue their dominance with 55 medals at the end of the seventh day of the 11th South Asian Games here on Thursday.
Besides the dozen gold medals, India bagged eight silver and one bronze to end the day with 32 gold, 14 silver and nine bronze medals, taking their total tally to 55.
The shuttlers won five gold and five silver medals in the men’s and women’s single, double, and mixed double categories to end their campaign on a high. The Indian shooters had yet another productive day, claiming the top four places.
The defending champions also won in men’s and women’s kabaddi event as well as in men’s volleyball, rounding off three gold medals.
The golfers, however disappointed, settling for a silver. India are also assured of a medal in handball after setting up a summit clash against arch-rivals Pakistan.
With India sitting comfortably at the top of the medals tally, Pakistan are a distant second with 29 medals (six gold, 15 silver and eight bronze). Hosts Bangladesh lie in the third spot with 26 medals(five gold, six silver and 15 bronze), while Sri Lanka are at the fourth spot with three gold, 11 silver and 16 bronze medals.
In the women’s 10m air pistol event, India won all the three medals with Lavleen Kaur bagging the gold (474), Sonia Rail (473) silver and Sushma Rana (470.9) bronze. The trio also won the team gold in the 10m air rifle event with a score of 1126 points.
In the men’s 50m pistol event, India’s Om Prakash (547) pocketed the gold medal while Poshuk Ahluwalia had to be content with the silver just one point behind.
In the 50m pistol team event, India emerged victorious with 1623 points.
In the men’s badminton singles summit clash, Anand beat second seed compatriot R.M.V. Guru Sai Dutt 21-16, 21-8.
Sayali Gokhale, however, won the gold after second seeded compatriot Trupti Murgunde, trailing 21-16, 8-3, conceded the women’s singles final match due to sickness. In the men’s doubles final, Rupesh and Thomas were declared winners when second seeded duo of Anand-Valiyaveetil Diju retired after losing the first game 21-19.
The duo of Aparna Balan and Shruti Kurien beat second seeded P.C. Thulasi and Ashwini Ponnappa 21-19, 22-20 for the women’s doubles title.
India also defended their titles in kabaddi with ease. The men’s team outplayed arch-rivals Pakistan 29-11 in the final while their female counterparts beat hosts Bangladesh 34-20 to emerge champions.
In volleyball, defending champions India made a remarkable comeback to beat Pakistan 3-1 and claim the gold medal. India beat Pakistan 23-25, 25-23, 25-16 in the summit clash at the Soharwardy Indoor Stadium in Mirpur.
However, the biggest disappointment of the day was the famed golfing quartet of Rashid Khan, Chikkarangappa, Rahul Bajaj and Ashbeer Singh Saini as they found the terrain tough and had to be satisfied with the silver medal in the team event.
The Indians were not at their best at the Kumirtola golf course as they combined for a three-over 435 to settle for the silver.
— PTI
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