South Asian Games 2019: Indian women complete hat-trick of gold medals

The penultimate day of action from the South Asian Games 2019 underway in the towns of Kathmandu - Pokhara continued to see India dominate proceedings on the overall medal count as they passed the mark of 150 gold medals at the end of the day.

In the tally of 153 gold medals, one significant contribution was done by the Indian Women's Football team. The Indian team defeated the host side Nepal in the final with a 2-0 scoreline to get the gold medal in convincing fashion.

The final match was held at the Pokhara Rangasala Stadium in Pokhara, Nepal as the home side saw a good turnout in the stands.

Indian team took on the offensive role right from the opening whistle with the likes of attackers Ratanbala Devi and Sangita Basfore troubling the Nepalese defenders with their speed and penetration of the backline.

The in-form deadly attacker Bala Devi stepped the ante yet again and was the first name on the scoresheet after she was at the end of a long ball from Indian goal keeper Aditi Chauhan. Bala Devi was calm with the ball at ther feet and comfortably slotted past the Nepal keeper to make it 1-0 after the 18th minute of the match.

Nepal were not backing down easily and had a few chances at the Indian goal but Aditi Chauhan was in no mood to let her clean sheet go and made crucial saves to keep the one goal advantage at the half time.

The second half saw the Indian women assert their dominance on the field and Bala Devi was set up intricately by Ratanbala Devi to get her second goal of the match in the 56th minute. This was Bala Devi's fifth goal in four matches of the tournament.

India ended up winning the match with the score at 2-0 and claimed their third gold medal in a row at the South Asian Games.