Gold rush continues for hosts

By our Sports Reporter

GUWAHATI, Feb 7: The third day of the 12th South Asian Games also witnessed host tion India’s domince in most sporting events. With 30 golds, 12 silvers and three bronze medals, India sits comfortably at the top of the tally with a total of 45 medals. India added sixteen golds to its yesterday’s tally.

India’s closest competitor Sri Lanka is placed at second with 8 golds and an overall medal count of 38.

Pakistan are in the third spot with two golds, four silvers and seven bronze medals. Bangladesh, Nepal and Afghanistan occupy the fourth, fifth and sixth positions respectively.

Minnows Bhutan and Maldives are yet to open their accounts.

Weightlifting, swimming and wrestling accounted for most of the gold medals clinched by the hosts. The paddlers bagged two gold medals while one gold came from cycling and wushu each.

India started their campaign on the third day with a gold in the women’s 40 km criterium race cycling event. Lidiyamol Sunny Memparambil and Manorama Devi Tongbram bagged the gold and silver respectively in the event. Sri Lankan Sudarika Priyadarshani P. Arachchige finished third. There was close contest between the Indian eves. Sunny got 30 points while Manorama Devi finished with 26 points. Sri Lankan cyclist Sudarika got 9 points.

 In men’s 60 km criterium race (cycling), Sri Lankans captured both the gold and silver while India’s Pankaj Kumar clinched the bronze. Sri Lanka’s Jeevan Manjula Jayasinghe Silva Pilippeng got the highest 34 points while his compatriot vin Ruchira Appuhamy Mahappu Arachchige came second.

The Indian swimmers continued to domite the pool. In men’s 1500 m freestyle, Sajan Prakash bagged gold while Sauravh Sangvekar clinched silver. Md. Mahfizur Rahman of Bangladesh got the bronze medal. In men’s 50m freestyle, Matthew Abeysinghe of Sri Lanka got the gold, Md. Asif Reza of Bangladesh won silver while India’s Neil Contractor bagged the bronze medal.

In men’s 200 m breast–stroke, Sandeep Sejwal of India won the gold, Kiran Jaisinghe of Sri Lanka took the silver and Bangladesh’s Md. Shariful Islam had to remain content with the bronze. In men’s 100 m butterfly, Sri Lankan Matthew Abeysinghe won the gold, Suporiyo Mondal of India received the silver and Kt. Cherantha De Silva of Sri Lanka finished with the bronze.