Pokhara (Nepal) Dec 2, (UNI) Indian men’s and women’s team clinched gold medals in their respective team events at the 13th South Asian Games, here on Monday.
Men’s team beat Sri Lanka 3-1 while women’s team also registered thrashing 3-0 win against Sri Lanka.
In the men’s team event, ace India shuttler Srikanth Kidambi started the proceedings for India when he struggled past Dinuka Karunaratne 17-21, 21-15, 21-11 in the opening match in 55 minutes.
Siril Verma then gave India a 2-0 lead after his opponent Sachin Dias retired with the scoreline reading 21-17, 11-5 in the Indian's favour.
Meanwhile, India conceded a point when doubles pair Arjun George and Sanyam Shukla lost a close game 18-21, 21-14, 11-21 to Sachin Premashan A Vidange and B Tharindu Goonathilake as Sri Lanka grabbed one point to make it 1-2.
However, in the next doubles match, Krishna Garanga and Dhruv Kapila gave India a winning lead when they registered a convincing 21-14, 21-18 win over Dinuka Karunaratne and Hasitha Chanaka and ensured a 3-1 win for India.
Congratulating the team on their gold medal win, BAI President, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, 'Team Gold Medals are always special and I am confident that the Indian contingent will surpass the previous edition's performance."
UNI AVK 2300