Judokas fuel India`s golden run on day four

Dhaka: Judokas fetched three gold, shuttlers bagged two and cycling yielded another as India`s domination continued unabated on day four of the 11th South Asian Games here on Monday. Apart from the six gold medals, the Indians also added one silver and four bronze medals to their kitty to reign supreme on the standings with 11 gold, one silver and five bronze medals. Akram Shah, Lourembam Brojeshori Devi and Ningthoujam Chanu Krishan ruled the roost in their respective sections to earn India three gold medals in judo, apart from the bronze medal won by Krishan Kumar. Indian men`s and women`s shuttlers won their respective team events to take the top honours. India began the day with a gold in cycling when Mahita Mohan topped the women`s 50km road race mass start today. Beside the gold, India also won a bronze through Rameshwari Devi in the event held at Bangladesh Krida Shiksha Pratisthan (BKSP) Khulna, about 300kms from here. For Mahita, this is her double gold having earlier clinched a team gold in the women`s 30km time trial. A lone silver medal came in weightlifting when Mali Chandra Kant Dadu (men`s 94kg) finished behind Usman Ajmal of Pakistan at the National Sport Council Gymnasium Hall. India bagged two bronze medals in squash with the duo of Sandip Jangra and Gaurav Nandrajog making a semi-final finish in the 11th South Asian Games here today. At the Bangladesh Krida Shiksha Pratisthan (BKSP), Savar near here, Shah prevailed over Pakistani rival Zafar Iqbal in the men`s 60kg en route to the gold in judo. In the women`s 63kg, Lourembam dominated the ring beating Pakistani Fouzia Mumtaz for the second gold in judo. The third gold for India came in the 52kg women`s section in which Chanu beat Lankan Chamila Dilhani Wijerathna. Elsewhere, Krishan`s last four finish in the men`s 66kg section earned him a bronze. Indian shuttlers dominated the courts winning both the men`s and women`s team gold at the Wooden Floor Gymnasium. The men`s and women`s teams did not give their Lankan opponents any chance in their respective matches won with an identical 3-0 margins. Women`s trio of Trupti Murugunde, Sayali Gokhale and PC Thulasi earned India the first gold, before the men`s singles players Chetan Anand, R M V Guru Sai Dutt and Aditya Prakash earned the second badminton gold. National champion Anand gave India the 1-0 lead when he prevailed over Lankan No 1 Niluka Karunaratne 21-12, 21-18. Guru Sai Dutt quelled the challenge from Dinuka Karunaratne 21-8, 21-18 while Aditya thrashed Nuwan Hettiarachchi 21-10, 21-15 to settle the issue 3-0 as the two doubles teams of Sanave Thomas/Rupesh Kumar and V Diju/Anand did not have to compete. Earlier in the women`s section, Sayali sailed past Thilini Jayasinghe 21-4, 21-11, while national champion Trupti thrashed Renu C D Hettiarachchige 21-9, 21-13. Thulasi overwhelmed Achini N Rathnasiri KM 21-13, 21-17 to clinch the issue for India 3-0. There was no need for the duo of Aparna Balan/Shruti Kurien and Thualsi/Ashwini Ponnappa to take the courts. In men`s kabaddi, India ensured a medal making the final with back-to-back wins. India had a tough time against Pakistan before prevailing 19-15 in their first match. In their second match of the day, India thrashed Sri Lanka 48-18 to book a final berth. Women`s kabaddi team remained on course with a win over Nepal 47-16. The Indians had a thumping start in handball when they dumped first timers Sri Lanka 58-10. In a complete goal glut, Deepak Ahlawat scored 10 goals, while Feroz Ahmed Khan scored eight goals for the Indian team led by Anand Vasu. Praseed Kumar Kundhuthodiyil and Sachin Choudhary banged in seven each, while Siddharth Bidhuri scored six goals. Mohinder Singh Rawat and Samsher Singh netted five each while Naya Chandra scored four goals. Naveen Kumar and Parduma Singh scored two goals while Susant Mishra had one to his name as India ruled the roost against a helpless Lankans. In basketball, India beat arch-rivals Pakistan 106-46. PTI