India clinched 42 medals, including 27 gold, on the penultimate day of competitions to inch closer to 300-mark and be poised to finish on top for the 13th time on the trot in the South Asian Games.
Indian athletes won 12 silver and 3 bronze to end Day 8 with 294 medals (159 gold, 91 silver and 44 gold) and be far ahead of Sri Lanka (236) and host Nepal (195 medals).
With just a few events — including seven boxing finals — scheduled for the closing day on Tuesday, India is unlikely to cross the 309 total medals it won in the last edition at home in 2016.
India has topped every edition of the Games since inception in 1984.
Boxers gave India the maximum medals on Monday with six gold and one silver.
Ankit Khatana (men’s 75kg), Vinod Tanwar (men’s 49kg), Sachin (men’s 56kg), Gaurav Chauhan (men’s 91kg), Kalaivani Srinivasan (women’s 48kg) and Parveen (women’s 60kg) bagged a gold each while Manish Kaushik (men’s 64kg) settled for silver on the first day of the finals.
On Tuesday, Vikas Krishan (men’s 69kg), Narender (men’s +91kg), Sparsh (men’s 52kg), Varinder (men’s 60kg), Pinki Rani (women’s 51kg), Sonia Lather (women’s 57kg) and Manju Bamboriya (women’s 64kg) will fight in the finals.
In wrestling, Indians won both the gold medals on offer on Monday with Gaurav Baliyan and Anita Sheoran registering comfortable victories in men’s 74kg and women’s 68kg respectively to complete a stupendous show. With the successes on Monday, India made a whitewash with seven gold medals each in men’s and women’s events.
In shooting, India won the air pistol mixed event event through the pair of Anuraj Singha and Shrawan Kumar.
Prominent medal-winners:
Boxing: Gold: Ankit Khatana (men’s 75kg), Vinod Tanwar (men’s 49kg), Sachin (men’s 56kg), Gaurav Chauhan (men’s 91kg), Kalaivani Srinivasan (women’s 48kg) and Parveen (women’s 60kg). Silver: Manish Kaushik (men’s 64kg).
Football: Gold: Women’s team.
Wrestling: Gold: Gaurav Baliyan (men’s 74kg), Anita Sheoran (women’s 68kg).
Fencing: Gold: Men’s foil, women’s epee and women’s saber.
Kabaddi:Gold: Men’s and women’s team.
Basketball 3x3:Gold: Men’s and women’s team.
Shooting: Gold: Anuraj Singha & Shrawan Kumar (mixed air pistol) .
