The South Asian Games 2019 officially kicked off with the opening ceremony at the Dasrath Rangasala Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal. Seven nations - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal are the nations that will be competing for honours in a wide field of 28 sports with more than 2500 athletes taking part in events.
The Indian badminton contingent was highly successful at the last edition of the South Asian Games back in 2016 held in Guwahati sweeping all the seven gold medals up for grabs. The seven events included Singles and Doubles for both Men and Women along with the Mixed Doubles and the Team events.
The second day of action at the 2019 South Asian Games will feature the Indian Men and Women's Team clash with neighbouring nation Pakistan in the Men's Team and Women's Team semifinals. Along with the aforementioned clashes, the hosts Nepal will face off against the Sri Lankan teams in both Men's and Women's Team semifinals.
Yesterday, the Pakistani Men and Women teams defeated teams from the nation of Maldives getting victories of 3-0 in the first round of action to set up the semifinals clash against the Indian Men and Women. In addition to these matches, the home nation Nepal made quick work of the Men and Women's teams from Bangladesh to enter the semifinals and set up the match against the Sri Lankan teams.
Day 2 Schedule for Badminton events at the South Asian Games 2019
Men's Team Event
India vs Pakistan - 10:00 am
Nepal vs Sri Lanka -10:00 am
Women's Team Event
India vs Pakistan - 10:00 am
Nepal vs Sri Lanka -10:00 am
Venue - Badminton Cover Hall, Pokhara
Indian Badminton Squad at the South Asian Games 2019
Men - Lakshya Sen, Sourabh Verma, Siril Verma, Siddharth Pratap Singh
Women - Gayathri Pullela Gopichand, Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka, Meghana Jakkampudi, Kuhoo Garg, Aakarshi Kashyap, Anoushka Parikh, Shriyanshi Pradeshi
Link for Day 4 Badminton SAG 2019 Schedule