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Regular-article-logo Sunday, 29 June 2025

Ruthvika upsets Sindhu

Clean sweep by the Indians in tennis & squash

Our Bureau Published 11.02.16, 12:00 AM
Apurvi Chandela, with her gold medal,
in Guwahati, on Wednesday.
Picture: UB photos

Guwahati/Shillong: India won three gold and an equal number of silver medals, stamping their domination in tennis at the 12th South Asian Games, on Wednesday.

In Guwahati, Ankita Raina overwhelmed compatriot Prerna Bhambri 6-1, 6-0 in the singles final. In another all-India gold medal match, the duo of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Prasanth Vijay Sunder won against Divij Sharan and Sanam Singh 6-3, 6-4.

In mixed doubles final, also an all-India affair, the pair of Divij and Ankita got past Sanam Singh and Prarthna Thombre to win 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).

On Thursday, Saketh Myneni will play Ramkumar in the men's singles final. In the women's doubles, Prarthna Thombre and Sharrmadaa Balu will lock horns with Rishika Sunkara and Natasha Palha.

In Shillong, 18-year-old Indian shuttler Ruthvika Shivani Gadde pulled off a huge upset beating PV Sindhu 21-11, 22-20 in the women's badminton singles final. Ruthvika blazed through the first game, but Sindhu came back to give her a tougher time in the second. Ultimately, however, Ruthvika prevailed against the more experienced, Sindhu, whose most recent title came at the Malaysian Masters Grand Prix.

In squash, there was another clean sweep by India. The hosts won the men's and women's titles, emerging unbeaten in the round-robin league tournament in Guwahati. Pakistan finished runners-up in both the events, losing only to India.

While the men's team comprised Saurav Ghoshal, Kush Kumar and Ravi Dikshit, the women's team consisted of Dipika Pallikal, Joshana Chinappa, Sunayna Kuruvilla and Akanksha Salunkhe.

In track and field, hosts India bagged nine of 14 gold medals at stake on Wednesday, at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati.

In hockey, India handed a 3-0 defeat to Sri Lanka at the M Tayebulla Hockey Stadium in Guwahati, to set up Friday's title clash with archrivals Pakistan, who have stayed unbeaten so far.

Sri Lankans Matthew Abeysinghe and Kimiko Raheem reigned at the Zakir Hussain Aquatics Complex with Abeysinghe accounting for a total of 10 medals, including seven gold. He added two gold and a silver to his overnight tally of five gold and one silver.

Kimiko tallied five gold and a silver. The Lankans missed another gold in 4x100 m women's relay with the team disqualified for a false start by Kimiko's sister Machiko Raheem. India were declared winners in the event.

"We have defeated India after 25 years, which is an achievement. We are now focused on the Rio Olympics," said Abeysinghe.

In men's football, hosts India booked a semi-finals berth with a 3-2 victory over the Maldives.

In table tennis, an enthralling women's singles final saw veteran Mouma Das overcome national champion Manika Batra in a gruelling seven-game encounter 4-3, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Sports Hall.

However, the men's final ended prematurely with G Sathiyan pulling out due to injury, handing Anthony Amalraj the gold medal.

In shooting, at the Sports Shooting Range in Guwahati, hosts India earned three gold medals. Rio Olympics-bound Apurvi Chandela won the gold in her pet event of women's 10m air rifle, with a total score of 209.00 points, while compatriots Elizabeth Susan Koshy and Pooja Ghatkar won silver and bronze.

In 50m pistol men's team event (Omkar Singh, PN Prakash and Om Prakash) and in 10m air rifle women's team event (Apurvi, Pooja and Koshy) the hosts earned the top spot.

India also had a successful day in wushu, with both the men's and women's teams bagging top place in Taijiquan and Taijijian.

India now have 117 gold medals along with 61 silver and 16 bronze. Sri Lanka were second with 24 gold, 46 silver and 63 bronze medals, followed by Pakistan with seven gold, 20 silver and 32 bronze.

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