Tourangbam bags India's first gold

Lifters too dazzle with three yellow metals; spikers score

 Cyclist Bidyaluxmi Tourangbam landed India’s first gold medal as the hosts kick-started their quest for overall glory at the 12th South Asian Games in right earnest here on Saturday.

Bidyaluxmi clocked 49:24.573 in the 30km individual time trial event at the LP School Chakanibari to wear gold while team-mate Chaobi Devi Elangbam won silver with a final timing of 49:31.311. Pakistan’s Sabiha D claimed bronze after crossing the line in 50:10.598.

Arvind Panwar and Manjeet Singh made it a 1-2 for Indians in the men’s 40km time trial. Arvind registered a final time of 52:28.800 for the gold while Manjeet clocked 54:01.183 for silver. Sri Lanka’s Janaka Hemantha Kumar (55:25.441) settled for bronze.

Lifters shine

The returns were rich in the weightlifting arena as well with Indians winning gold in three out of four events held on the day.

The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Mirabai claimed gold in the women’s 48kg with a total lift of 169 kg (79+90).

Gururaja won the gold in the men’s 56 kg after lifting 241kg while Harshdeep Kaur clinched India’s third gold in the women’s 53 kg section after lifting a total of 171kg.

Disappointing

The only disappointment came in the men’s 62 kg section where Gopal Anbarasu was eliminated after failing to clear 140kg (clean and jerk) in his three attempts.
Spikers begin well

Indian men’s volleyball team began on a rousing note, blanking Nepal 3-0 in an extremely lop-sided contest.  The spikers, favourites to claim the gold, all but secured their place in the semifinals with a 25-16, 25-16, 25-16 win. They next play Sri Lanka on Sunday.

Medals tally

Country    G    S    B    T
India    14    5    0    19
Sri Lanka    4    10    7    21
Pakistan    1    2    3    6
Bangladesh    0    1    8    9
Nepal    0    1    2    3
Afghanistan    0    0    1    1