India, the overall champion over all the 11 previous editions of the South Asian Games, on Wednesday crossed a historic milestone of winning its 1,000th gold in the Games.
The host which entered the fortnight-long competition with a tally of 900 gold medals, crossed the landmark when swimmer Veerdhawal Khade won the men’s 50m butterfly title here on Wednesday.
India had won 44 golds in the inaugural edition at Kathmandu in 1984 followed by 61 (Dhaka, 1985), 91 (Kolkata, 1987), 61 (Islamabad, 1989), 64 (Colombo, 1991), 60 (Dhaka, 1993), 106 (Chennai [then Madras], 1995), 102 (Kathmandu, 1999), 103 (Islamabad, 2004), 118 (Colombo, 2006) and 90 (Dhaka, 2010). The host is also likely to overhaul its best ever tally of 118-59-37 achieved in Colombo 2006 with five days remaining.
