The 12th edition of the South Asian Games, hosted by India in Guwahati and Shillong, saw India firmly atop the medal tally, winning more gold medals today, with closest competitors Sri Lanka a significant margin behind.
Indian athletes won a total of 13 gold medals across team and individual disciplines, in addition to two silver medals and a bronze.
Shooting
Indian shooters put in the day’s standout performances, doing exceedingly well from the start of the day’s events. India’s Anjum Moudgil won gold in both the individual and team women’s 50m rifle events.
India’s Gurpreet Singh won gold in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol, with Vijay Kumar taking the bronze medal at the same event.
Female shooters took a clean sweep at the women’s 10m air pistol. Shweta Singh won gold with 155.30, with compatriots Heena Sidhu and Yashaswani Desai taking silver and bronze respectively.
Boxing
India’s boxers had another strong day today, with both men and women taking top prizes across categories. India’s Margarita Devi won gold in the women’s 62kg category, with Devendro Singh winning top honours in the men’s light flyweight event.
Youth Olympics medal winner Shiva Thapa also did well, bagging gold in the men’s 56kg category. Countryman Madan Lal also won gold, this time in the men’s 52kg flyweight category.
Olympian MC Mary Kom won her semi-final bout against Shamina Akhtar of Bangladesh in the women’s 48-51kg category, and will fight for gold tomorrow.
Football
India’s footballing teams had mixed fortunes today, with both sides playing Nepalese rivals for gold.
The women’s team were very succesful in their gold medal outing, with Kamala Devi scoring two goals in quick succession in the match. Her teammates capitalised on that march to score another two goals, with Nepal remaining goalless through the match.
The women won 4-0 to take gold in their discipline.
The men’s side, however, were not as lucky. The blues led Nepal 1-0 going into half-time, and had been playing well upto then. Following a foul-ridden second half with a strong performance by Nepal, the visitors scored two goals to lead India 2-1. The home side were unable to make up the deficit despite an extra minute, and had to be content with silver.
Other sports
The Indian kabbadi side were successful today, taking gold against Pakistan in dominant fashion.
The men's handball final was also an India-Pakistan affair, with the home side narrowly edging out the Pakistani squad, beating them 32-31 for the gold medal. Elsewhere, the women’s handball team routed Bangladesh, taking a 45-25 victory over a side that appeared to be no match for them.
Navjeet Mann of India won the gold medal in the men’s under-80kg category in taekwondo.
