Kathmandu:
Indian athletes dominated the track and field and shooting events to clinch 27 medals, including 11 gold, on the second day of competitions and remain in the second position at the medals tally in the 13th South Asian Games in Kathmandu on Tuesday. India completely dominated the first day of athletics events by clinching 10 medals (4 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze) while the shooters also fetched nine (4 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze) to swell the country's tally. Both the volleyball men's and women's teams won a gold each while the taekwondo players contributed 1 gold and 3 bronze medals. India also bagged gold medals in both men's and women's table tennis team events. India's medal tally stood at 43 medals (18 gold, 16 silver and 9 bronze), behind hosts Nepal's 44 (23 gold, 9 silver, 12 bronze).
Sri Lanka was third with 46 medals (5 gold, 14 silver, 27 bronze). On the first day of athletics competition, Archana Suseendran (women's 100m), M Jashna (women's high jump), Sarvesh Anil Kushare (men's high jump) and Ajay Kumar Saroj (men's 1500m) won a gold each to begin India's athletics campaign on an impressive note. Suseendran clocked 11.80 seconds in the 100m dash to emerge as the fastest woman of the Games, leaving behind Sri Lankans Thanuji Amasha (11.82) and Lakshika Sugand (11.84) for silver and bronze respectively.
In the women's high jump, Jashna cleared 1.73m to clinch the gold while Rubina Yadav bagged a bronze with an effort of 1.69m. Kushare cleared 2.21m to win the men's high jump gold while compatriot Chetan Balasubramanya claimed the silver with an effort of 2.16m for a 1-2 finish for India. Saroj won the gold in men's 1500m with a timing of 3.54.18 seconds while Ajeet Kumar clinched the silver by clocking 3.57.18s.
The bronze went to Tanka Karki (3.50.20s) of Nepal. Kavita Yadav then added a silver in the women's 10,000m race by clocking 35 minute 7.95 seconds. Earlier in the day, India's Chanda (4.34.51s) clinched the silver medal in the women's 1500m event while compatriot Chitra Palakeez (4.35.46s) settled for the bronze. The gold in this event went to Sri Lanka's Uda Kuburalage (4.34.34s). At the Satdobato Shooting Range, Indian shooters bagged nine medals, including four gold, with Mehuli Ghosh winning the yellow metal with a score better than the world record.
The 19-year-old Mehuli clinched the gold with a score of 253.3 in the final, which is 0.4 more than the current world record of 252.9 which is in the name of another Indian, Apurvi Chandela. Mehuli's effort will, however, not be considered as a world record, as the South Asian Games' results are not recognised by the international body (ISSF) for the purpose of records. Shriyanka Sadangi took the silver with a score of 250.8, while Shreya Agrawal (227.2) clinched the bronze in a 1-2-3 podium finish by the Indians.
India also won the team gold in the 10m air rifle event. In the men's 50m 3P event, Chain Singh clinched the gold medal with compatriot Akhil Sheoran winning the silver. Yogesh Singh and Gurpreet Singh won the gold and silver medal in the 25m center fire pistol event respectively. India also won a silver medal in the 25m center fire pistol team event. India also swept the volleyball gold medals by winning both the men's and women's titles. The men's team defeated Pakistan 20-25, 25-15, 25-17 and 29-27 in a hard-fought summit clash to defend the gold they had won at home in the 2016 edition.
The bronze medal went to Sri Lanka. In the women's final, the defending champions had to toil hard to beat hosts Nepal in a five-setter to clinch the gold. India won 25-17, 23-25, 21-25, 25-20 and 15-6. The women's bronze medal also went to Sri Lanka. In table tennis, Indian men's team beat Nepal 3-0 in the summit clash while their women's counterparts defeated Sri Lanka team 3-0 in the final to clinch gold medals.
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In taekwondo, Kashish Malik won a gold in women's 57kg category while Radha Bhati (women's 46kg), Kanha Mainali (men's 54kg) and Prithviraj Chavan (men's 68kg) won a bronze each. In women's football, India mauled Maldives 5-0 in their opening game with Bala Devi scoring a brace. Indian men's and women's kho-kho teams registered dominating wins over their Sri Lankan counterparts in the semi-finals to enter the finals.
