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Rediff.com  » Sports » PHOTOS: India finish with 308 medals at South Asian Games

PHOTOS: India finish with 308 medals at South Asian Games

February 16, 2016 22:40 IST
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Hosts crowned overall champions for 12th consecutive time after haul of 188 gold, 99 silver and 30 bronze medals.

Sri Lanka a distant second, with 186 medals; Pakistan third, with 106.

India's pugilists win all 10 gold medals on offer.

Indian contingent marching past

IMAGE: Indian contingent marching past at the closing ceremony of the 12th South Asian Games in Guwahati. Photograph: PTI

India's regional supremacy at the South Asian Games went unchallenged. The hosts were crowned overall champions for the 12th consecutive time after a record-breaking haul of 308 medals.

With the women boxers scooping all the three gold medals on offer and the judokas also bagging two gold and two silver on the last day of the Games, India's final tally was 188 gold, 99 silver and 30 bronze medals.

It was a massive jump in India’s medal count, having won 175, including 90 gold, in the previous edition of the Games in 2010.

At a distant second was Sri Lanka with a haul of 186 medals (25 silver, 63 silver and 98 bronze).

Pakistan held on to third spot with a final count of 106 medals (12 gold, 37 silver and 57 bronze).

On the final day of competition, action was restricted to the hill town of Shillong, where the women boxers and judokas fought their final bouts.

First off the blocks were the pugilists, who ensured India a 'Perfect 10' in boxing. After the men bagging all the seven gold medals on offer on Monday, the women made a clean sweep.

London Olympics bronze-medallist M C Mary Kom (51kg), former World champion L Sarita Devi (60kg) and Asian Games bronze winner Pooja Rani (75kg) claimed the top honours in their respective categories.

On a comeback trail after recovering from a shoulder injury, Mary Kom proved too good for her seasoned Sri Lankan opponent, Anusha Kodituwakku Dilrukshi, winning via Technical Knockout (TKO) in less than 90 seconds.

With Mary landing some powerful blows, Anusha lost her balance and injured her right knee. She was forced to take a medical break, but when she returned to the action a booming jab from the five-time World champion almost sent her out of the ring forcing the referee to intervene.

Anusha's injury will take about two-three months to heal.

However, Sarita, who was returning to competitive action after serving a one-year ban for her infamous Asian Games meltdown, had to stave off a stiff challenge from another Lankan opponent in M Vidushika Prabadhi.

The Incheon bronze-medallist overwhelmed the Lankan in the first two rounds, but was at the receiving end later. Prabadhi came back strongly in the third with some powerful blows, leading to Sarita falling to the canvas twice. In the end it was a 3-0 verdict for the India.

The Bhutan contingent at the closing ceremony

IMAGE: The Bhutan contingent at the closing ceremony of the 12th South Asian Games at Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium in Guwahati. Photograph: PTI

However, Rani ended her campaign in style, overwhelming Nilanthi Andaraweer by a TKO in the first round.

The judokas too showed good form, bagging two gold and two silver medals to finish on top at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor sports hall.

Four events were held on the last day of the judo competition and the Indians put up a dominating show.

Avatar Singh took just 49 seconds in the stipulated five minutes to prevail over Afghan opponent Mohammad Ismail Kakar en route to the gold medal in the men's under-90kg category.

Pooja, on the other hand, overcame a strong challenge from Pakistan's Beenish Khan in an evenly-contested duel before the Indian sealed off the issue in 3:03 minutes in the women's under-70kg category.

The women's under-78kg contest was tricky as there were only four contestants and Aruna (200 points) was edged out by gold medallist Fouzia Mumtaz (210) of Pakistan in the round-robin league.

It was the fifth battle of the day between the two rivals, and Mumtaz clinched the issue in just four minutes.

Pitted against Shah Hussain Shah in the men's under-100kg final, Shubham Kumar simply lost against the celebrated Pakistani, who won in just one minute and 29 seconds to clinch the gold.

India's judokas emerged overall winners with nine gold, three silver from 12 disciplines, relegating Pakistan (2-2-8) and Nepal (1-2-6) to second and third places respectively.

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