In their complete domination of the 12th South Asian Games here, the Indian recurve archers — who won all the 10 gold medals, of which five came on Tuesday — might have unwittingly found a place to train for the Rio Olympics.
Archers Deepika Kumari and Jayanta Talukdar were of the view that the weather conditions and the shifting winds at the venue here could prove to be an ideal training ground to prepare for battles abroad.
In the women’s singles final, Deepika had to fight hard to beat Bombayla Devi 6-4 while Tarundeep Rai, making a comeback after a dip in form, defeated Gurucharan Besra 6-2 in the men’s final.
“It feels good to win, but this is just the beginning. I need to do well in the remaining selection trials to hope for a place in the Indian team,” said Rai.
Earlier, the Indian men’s, women’s and mixed recurve teams bagged the three gold medals, thereby making it an all-India show.
Grace scores a brace
Later, the Indian women’s team beat Sri Lanka 5-0 to script its first win in the five-team league football competition. It was Dangmei Grace’s brace and an assist that set up the win. India next takes on Nepal, which is on two wins, on February 11.
Grace’s first goal was a scorcher from close range towards the end of the first half. The 19-year-old then unleashed a right-footer from around 35 yards in the 57th minute for her second.
She then set up India’s fourth goal when she ran along the left and chipped a pass to Kamala Devi, who tapped it home.
A. Amalraj and Manika Batra overcame fellow Indians G. Sathiyan and Mouma Das 11-5, 4-11, 11-5, 6-11, 12-10 to bag the table tennis mixed doubles gold.
The results: Archery: Recurve Team: Men: India (Tarundeep Rai, Gurucharan Besra, Jayanta Talukdar) bt Sri Lanka (Nipuna Senevirathne, Indranath, Sajeev De Silva) 5-1.
Women: India (Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi, Laxmirani Majhi) bt Sri Lanka (Dilhara Salgado, Anuradha Karunaratne, Suchini Ubeysiri) 6-0. Mixed: India (Deepika Kumari, Tarundeep Rai) bt Sri Lanka (Dilhara Salgado, Nipuna Senevirathne) 6-0.
Table Tennis: Doubles semifinals: Women: Mouma Das & K. Shamini (Ind) bt Nabita Shrestha & Elina Maharjan (Nepal) 11-4, 11-6, 11-7; Pooja Sahasrabudhe & Manika Batra bt Ishara Madhurangi & Warusawithana Erandi (SL) 12-10, 11-9, 11-4.
Men: A. Amalraj & Sanil Shetty bt Rohan Sirisena & Chameern Ginge (SL) 11-8, 14-12, 11-9; G. Sathiyan & Devesh Karia bt Udaya Ranasinghe & Nirmala Jayasinghe (SRL) 11-7, 11-4, 11-4.
Football: Women: India 5 (Pathirana-og, Dangmei Grace-2, Kamala Devi, Sasmita Malik) bt Sri Lanka 0.
Archers Deepika Kumari and Jayanta Talukdar were of the view that the weather conditions and the shifting winds at the venue here could prove to be an ideal training ground to prepare for battles abroad.
In the women’s singles final, Deepika had to fight hard to beat Bombayla Devi 6-4 while Tarundeep Rai, making a comeback after a dip in form, defeated Gurucharan Besra 6-2 in the men’s final.
“It feels good to win, but this is just the beginning. I need to do well in the remaining selection trials to hope for a place in the Indian team,” said Rai.
Earlier, the Indian men’s, women’s and mixed recurve teams bagged the three gold medals, thereby making it an all-India show.
Grace scores a brace
Later, the Indian women’s team beat Sri Lanka 5-0 to script its first win in the five-team league football competition. It was Dangmei Grace’s brace and an assist that set up the win. India next takes on Nepal, which is on two wins, on February 11.
Grace’s first goal was a scorcher from close range towards the end of the first half. The 19-year-old then unleashed a right-footer from around 35 yards in the 57th minute for her second.
She then set up India’s fourth goal when she ran along the left and chipped a pass to Kamala Devi, who tapped it home.
A. Amalraj and Manika Batra overcame fellow Indians G. Sathiyan and Mouma Das 11-5, 4-11, 11-5, 6-11, 12-10 to bag the table tennis mixed doubles gold.
The results: Archery: Recurve Team: Men: India (Tarundeep Rai, Gurucharan Besra, Jayanta Talukdar) bt Sri Lanka (Nipuna Senevirathne, Indranath, Sajeev De Silva) 5-1.
Women: India (Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi, Laxmirani Majhi) bt Sri Lanka (Dilhara Salgado, Anuradha Karunaratne, Suchini Ubeysiri) 6-0. Mixed: India (Deepika Kumari, Tarundeep Rai) bt Sri Lanka (Dilhara Salgado, Nipuna Senevirathne) 6-0.
Table Tennis: Doubles semifinals: Women: Mouma Das & K. Shamini (Ind) bt Nabita Shrestha & Elina Maharjan (Nepal) 11-4, 11-6, 11-7; Pooja Sahasrabudhe & Manika Batra bt Ishara Madhurangi & Warusawithana Erandi (SL) 12-10, 11-9, 11-4.
Men: A. Amalraj & Sanil Shetty bt Rohan Sirisena & Chameern Ginge (SL) 11-8, 14-12, 11-9; G. Sathiyan & Devesh Karia bt Udaya Ranasinghe & Nirmala Jayasinghe (SRL) 11-7, 11-4, 11-4.
Football: Women: India 5 (Pathirana-og, Dangmei Grace-2, Kamala Devi, Sasmita Malik) bt Sri Lanka 0.
