India win 4 golds on Day V

DHAKA: India added four gold, two silver and two bronze edals to their swelling kitty at the end of the fifth day of the 11th South Asian Games here Tuesday.

India now have 15 gold, three silver and seven bronze medals. Pakistan are second with six gold, 11 silver and four bronze, while Sri Lanka have so far won 17 medals (three gold, nine silver and five bronze), to occupy third spot. Shooters began their campaign on a positive note by winning two gold, one silver and two bronze while weightlifters claimed both the yellow metals on offer on the final day of the event Tuesday. Cyclists, too, signed off with a silver with Rajendra Bishnoi finishing second in men’s 170km road race mass start.

Sandeep Kumar and Srinivasa Rao Mallisetty won gold in men’s weightlifting, while the other two yellow metals came from shooting — Vivek Singh (25m standard pistol individual event) and the men’s 25m standard pistol team event. The men’s 25m standard pistol team had Vivek, Chandrashekhar Kumar Chaudhary and Harpreet Singh in it. Chaudhary also clinched an individual bronze in the same event while in the women’s section, 13-year-old Mampi Das battled fever to clinch a bronze in the 10m individual air rifle. The women’s team comprising Mampi, Tejaswini Muley and Shruti Bhatepatil bagged silver in the 10m air rifle. Indian lifters returned home with three gold, one silver and one bronze.

On the last day of cycling, India’s Rajendra Bishnoi was pipped to the post by Janaka Hemanth Gonagalage of Sri Lanka in men’s 170-km road race. Bishnoi had to settle for a silver in photo finish at the race held between Khulna and Gopalganj. Nisar Ahmed of Pakistan won bronze. All the three cyclists made the distance in four hour 48 minutes and 34 seconds. India also made a winning start in the squash team event after thrashing hosts Bangladesh 3-0 in their round robin opener at the Dhaka Club courts. Vikas Jangra gave India a 1-0 lead with a 11-0, 11-0, 11-7 win over Shaheed. Ravi Dixit beat Rajan 11-7, 11-4, 11-7, while Sandeep Jangra defeated Shopon 11-2, 11-5, 11-5 to clinch the issue.

In men’s football, India rode on the three goals of Lalpekhula Jeje to thrash archrivals Pakistan 5-1, and make it to the semi-final. Indian shuttlers asserted their supremacy as the top players advanced to the semi-finals. In men’s singles, top seed Chetan Anand got the better of Mohammad Rais Uddin of Bangladesh 21-19, 21-10 to set up a semi-final clash with Dinuka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka. Second seed RMV Guru Sai Dutt beat Sri Lanka’s Niluka Karunaratne 21-12, 21-13. In women’s singles, top seed Sayali Gokhale beat Achini Ratnasiri or Sri Lanka 21-13, 23-21 while Trupti Murgunde, seeded second, defeated Sara Devi Tamang of Nepal 21-7, 21-15 to enter last four. In women’s doubles, the top-seeded duo of Aparna Balan and Shruti Kurien thrashed Pooja Shrestha and Sara Devi Tamang of Nepal 21-8, 21-8.

India will take on Maldives in volleyball semi-final Wednesday. In other semi-final, Sri Lanka will take on Pakistan. In basketball, India lost to Afghanistan 74-77. In women’s kabaddi, India beat Bangladesh 35-20.