Leader India clinches 41 medals on fifth day

India grabbed another 18 silver and four bronze medals to take the total tally to 165 (81 gold, 59 silver, 25 bronze) and leave second-placed Nepal (41 gold, 27 silver, 48 bronze), which won a total 116 medals, behind. Sri Lanka is third with a tally of 134 medals (23 gold, 42 silver, 69 bronze).

The shuttlers won the maximum gold medals -- four. They also clinched two silver medals. Siril Verma lived up to his top seeding as he rallied from a game down to outwit compatriot Aryaman Tandon 17-21, 23-21, 21-13 in an all-Indian men’s singles final.

In the women’s singles final, Ashmita Chaliha overcame a late surge from fellow Indian Gayatri Gopichand to finish off with a 21-18, 25-23 win. In doubles, there was double delight for Dhruv, who emerged victorious in both men’s and mixed doubles. He paired up with Krishna Prasad Garaga to win the men’s doubles title 21-19, 19-21, 21-18 against Sri Lanka’s Sachin Dias and Buwaneka.

In mixed doubles, top seeds Dhruv and Meghana Jakkampudi eased past second seeds Sachin Dias and Thilini Pramodika Hendehewe of Sri Lanka 21-16, 21-14 in the final. Track and field athletes fetched the maximum 12 medals but just two of them were gold. The yellow metalscame in men’s and women’s shot put events.

In men’s shot put, Tejinder Pal Singh Toor broke the South Asian Games record with a creditable throw of 20.03m to win gold. He bettered compatriot Bahadur Singh Sagoo’s previous record of 19.15m made in 1999. In women’s shot put event, Abha Khatuwa took gold by throwing the iron ball to a distance of 15.32m.

The country’s fencers also made their presence felt by clinching three gold medals and as many silver. Wangelmbam Thoibi Devi won gold in women’s foil while Karan Singh finished first in men’s sabre event. In the men’s epee event, Sunil Kumar claimed gold. In table tennis also, the Indians won gold and silver in both men’s and women’s singles.

Anthony Amalraj defeated compatriot Harmeet Desai 4-3 while Sutirtha Mukherjee downed Ayhika Mukherjee 4-2 in the all-Indian men’s and women’s singles finals respectively. The weightlifters also continued their impressive run by claiming three gold medals and a silver.