South Asian Games: India win five medals

India added four gold and one bronze on the third day on Sunday to reign supreme on top of medal standings in the 11th South Asian Games in Dhaka.

Judokas Balvinder Singh and Vikram Solanki bagged a gold each while weightlifter Omkar Otari and men's cycling quartet also won the yellow metal.

India now have five gold and a bronze in their kitty. The women's cycling team clinched gold in 30-km time trial on Saturday.

India began their day with a gold in the men's 80-km road team time trial event held from Bangladesh Krida Shiksha Pratisthan (BKSP) Khulna to Gopalganj, about 300 kms from.

The men's quartet of Rajendra Bishnoi, Amandeep Singh, Harpreet Singh and Sabu Ganager clocked 1 hour 44 minutes 11.81 seconds to finish first ahead of Pakistan.

Pakistani team clocked 1::45:59.11s for the silver, while Bangladesh had to be content with the bronze with a timing of 1::46:44.11s.

Indians swelled their medal tally with two gold medals in the men's judo at the BKSP at Savar near here.

In the 73kg category, Balvinder defeated Karamat Butt of Pakistan for the gold medal. Deepak Krishna (Nepal) and Habibur Rahman (Bangladesh) took the bronze medals.

In the 90kg category, Solanki got the better of Dewalage Krishan Priyadarshana of Sri Lanka en route to the gold.

Mohammad Tawfiq (Afghanistan) and Toriqul Islam (Bangladesh) settled for the bronze medals.

The fourth gold for India came in the men's 62kg weightlifting when Otari pipped Pakistan's Mohammad Istiaq Ghafoor in a close finish at the National Sport Gymnasium complex. Another Indian Rustam Sarang bagged the bronze.

All the three medal winners lifted 258 kgs in aggregate but Omkar, who weighs 61.30kg, topped on basis of his lesser body-weight.

Meanwhile, Indian shuttlers assured themselves of at least two medals after making final berths in both men's and women's team events.

For the gold medal matches in badminton on Monday, both the men's and women's teams will take on Sri Lanka in their respective sections.

Indian men's team led by national champion Chetan Anand blanked hosts Bangladesh 5-0 en route to the final at the Wooden Floor Gymnasium courts.

Anand thrashed Saif Uddin 21-13, 21-14 while top junior player R M V Gurusaidutt thrashed Mohammad Ahsun Habib Parash 21-11, 21-10.

Aditya Raviprakash beat Mohammad Rais Uddin 21-14, 21-13 in the third singles match. The pair of Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar beat Rasel

Kabir and Mohammad Ahsun Habib Parash 21-17, 21-11, while Anand partnered Diju V beat Mohammad Anamul Haque and Jamil Ahmed Dulal 21-11, 21-5 as India clinched the issue 5-0 in the men's team event.

The Indian women's team beat Nepal with an identical 5-0 scoreline en route to the badminton final.

India number two Sayali Gokhale gave his team a flying start when she sailed past Saradevi Tamang 21-6, 21-12. PC Thulasi drubbed Sujana Shrestha 21-4, 21-4, while Ashwini Ponnappa spanked Nangsal Tamang 21-13, 21-9.

The duo of Shruti Kurien-Aparna Balan and Ashwini-Thulasi completed the formalities in the doubles to make it 5-0.

Shruti and Aparna beat Pooja Shrestha and Sara 21-9, 21-6, while Ashwini-Thualsi beat Sujana-Nangsal 21-4, 21-8.

Indians had disappointment in store in squash as the duo of Gaurav Nandrajog and Sandip Jangra lost both their respective semi-final matches at Dhaka Club.

World number 19th and Pakistani top player Aamri Atlas Khan beat Jangra 3-1, while Nandrajog succumbed to Farhan Mahboob who took the match 3-0.

It will be Nandrajog vs Jangra battle for the bronze medal play-off.

In football, Indian men's team were held to a goalless draw by Sri Lanka while their women counterparts took a step closer to the final by thrashing Pakistan 6-0. Indian men's team have just one match left – against Pakistan -- in their round robin league in Group B.

Women's side, on the other hand, continued their winning run as they rode on a hat-trick from captain Oinam Bembem Devi, who scored in the 10th, 11th and 17 minutes.

Continuing their winning run, India thrashed Sri Lanka 6-2 in their hockey match at Moulana Bhashin Stadium artificial turf.

India's senior most pro V Raghunath and Mohammad Aamir Khan scored twice, while Dharamvir Singh, captain Ajitesh Roy and Pramod Kumar completed the scoreline.

Indian kabaddi side made winning starts in both men's and women's sections. While the men's team beat Nepal 57-13, their women's counterparts defeated Sri Lanka 47-19.

India beat Afghanistan 25-11, 25-14, 25-14 in volleyball at the indoor stadium in Mirpur.