13th South Asian Games: India clinch two gold medals in the badminton team event

Pokhara, Dec. 2: Indian men's and women's team clinched gold medals in their respective team events at the 13th South Asian Games in Pokhara, Nepal, on Monday. Men's team beat Sri Lanka 3-1 while women's team also registered thrashing 3-0 win against Sri Lanka.

Srikanth started the proceedings for the defending champions when he struggled past Dinuka Karunaratne 17-21, 21-15, 21-11 in the opening match. 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.

Arun George and Sanyam Shukla, however, suffered a 18-21, 21-14, 11-21 loss to Sachin and B Tharindu D Dumbukola Goonathilake as Sri Lanka grabbed one point to make it 1-2. Krishna Prasad Garanga and Dhruv Kapila then completed the win with a 21-14, 21-18 win over Karunaratne and Hasitha Chanaka in the second doubles match.

Earlier in the day, the men's team mauled Pakistan 3-0 with doubles pair of Arun George and Sanyam Shukla, singles players Krishna Prasad Garanga and Siril Varma registering easy wins. While Arun and Sanyam beat Raja Muhammad Hasnain and Atique Muhammad 21-12, 21-12, Siril thrashed Zahid Awais 21-7, 21-7 and Krishna Prasad Garanga overcame Ali Murad 21-19, 21-18.

Up against the same opponents, the India women's team also blanked Pakistan 3-0 in the semifinals to enter the summit clash against Sri Lanka. While Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka overcame Mahoor Shahzad 21-12, 21-18, Gayatri Gopichand brushed aside Palwasha Bashir 21-14, 21-11 and doubles pairing of Meghna Jakkampudi and N Sikki Reddy saw off Javeed Huma and Akram Sheera 21-14, 21-12. The individual events will begin on Tuesday.