SAG: India pulls ahead of rivals with rich medal haul

Swimmers and wrestlers continued their complete domination in their respective disciplines as India continued its commanding performance on yet another medal-laden day to leave rival countries far behind in the South Asian Games in Kathmandu on Sunday.

The swimmers picked up as many as 7 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze while the wrestlers clinched all the four yellow metals on offer on Sunday to help India add 38 medals (22 gold, 10 silver, 6 bronze) on Day 7 of the regional Games.

India's total medal count stood at 252 (132 gold, 79 silver, 41 bronze), leaving behind hosts Nepal and Sri Lanka behind. Nepal has won 165 medals (45 gold, 44 silver, 76 bronze) while Sri Lanka have collected 197 medals (36 gold, 68 silver, 93 bronze).

Handball players added one gold and one silver by winning the women's event while finishing runners-up in the men's final.

In fencing also, India picked up all the three gold on offer by finishing on top of the podium in the team events of men's epee, men's sabre and women's foil.

It was a gold rush for the Indian in the swimming pool with Kushagra Rawat picking the first top prize of the day in men's 400m freestyle event with a time of 3:49.76 while compatriot Anand Shylaja took the silver in 4:01.02 for an Indian 1-2 finish.

Supriya Mondal then added another gold in men's 200m butterfly, clocking 2:02.45, while another Indian, Mihir Ambre took the bronze with a time of 2:09.14.

Indians won both the 50m backstroke men and women's events through Srihari Natraj (24.78) and Mana Patel (28.94) while the 4x200m freestyle relay men and women's teams also picked up respective yellow metals.

The seventh swimming gold of the day for India was collected by Apeksha Fernandes in women's 200m butterfly with a time of 2:21.83.

In wrestling, Indians continued their complete domination by clinching four gold medals with Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik leading the charge. India have so far won gold medals in all the 12 categories.

While Sakshi was unstoppable on her way to the top podium finish in the 62kg category, U-23 world championships silver medallist, Ravinder clinched the gold in the men's freestyle 61kg.

Sakshi won all her matches one sided by pinning her opponents down while Ravinder had to work hard to clinch his gold against Pakistan's M Bilal after easily overcoming the challenges posed by Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi wrestlers in the earlier rounds.

Pawan Kumar (men's freestyle 86kg) and Anshu (women's 59kg) also won a gold each in their respective categories.

While Commonwealth Games gold medallist Pawan had to rely on his experience to win 4-1 against his Pakistani opponent in the final, Anshu claimed the gold against his Sri Lankan rival within a record 15 seconds of the bout.

Indian judokas made a brilliant start to their campaign by winning five gold, one silver and one bronze on Sunday. Sushila Devi brought the first gold in women's 48 kg. Later, Vijay Kumar Yadav won gold in men's 60kg and Jasleen Singh Saini clinched a yellow metal in 66 kg.

Suchika Tariyal (women's 57kg) and L Nirupama Devi (63kg) were the other gold winners. Gayatri Tokas bagged a silver in 52kg category while Vishal Ruhil won a bronze in 73kg.

In tennis, India made a clean sweep, winning three gold and an equal number of silver in mixed, men's and women's doubles. All three finals were played between the Indian players. The men's and women's single finals will also be played among the Indian players on Monday. 

In squash, India bagged one gold, two silver and one bronze. In women's individual event, India won a gold and a silver. In the final, Tanvi Khanna defeated Sunayana S Kuruvilla 3-1.

In men's individual event, India got a silver and a bronze. Harinder Pal Singh lost to Tayyab Aslam of Pakistan 1-3 in the final. Abhay Singh got a bronze.

In shooting, India won two gold and one bronze. In men's 10m air pistol team event, Shravan Kumar, Ravinder Singh and Sumit Raman clinched a gold.

In individual event, Shravan Kumar grabbed a gold and Ravinder Singh brought home a bronze. 

In boxing, seven Indian boxers entered the finals on Sunday with reigning Commonwealth Games champion Vikas Krishan (men's 69kg) and 2014 CWG bronze medallist Pinki Rani (women's 51kg) leading the charge.

While Sparsh (52kg), Varinder (60kg) and Narender (+91kg) were the other boxers to reach the summit clash from the men, all the three women -- Pinki Rani (51kg), Sonia Lather (57kg) and Manju Bamboriya (64kg) -- cruised into the finals. The only setback for India was the defeat of Sachin in 81kg.

With eight Indian boxers sealing their final places on Saturday, India will now have a total of 15 boxers aiming for the gold medal.

In kabaddi, Indian men and women's teams reached the final. The men's team will take on Sri Lanka while the women will clash with hosts Nepal in the finals on Monday.