12th South Asian Games: Lifters hoist four gold

Indians enjoyed a perfect penultimate day at the weightlifting competition, sweeping home all the four gold medals that were on offer at the Bhogeshwari Phukanani Indoor Stadium.

Victor Abilash Christopher, Pardeep Singh, Vikas Thakur and Kavita Devi all exuded confidence as they climbed up the podium on Monday.

Christopher lifted a total weight of 317 kg (135+182) to wear the gold in the 105kg category, 17kgs more than second-placed Shanaka Peters of Sri Lanka and 37 kgs higher than Azharamir of Pakistan.

Things were easy for Pardeep in the 94kg section as well, the Indian lifting 331kg (145+186), winning the gold by nine kgs. Vikas too didn’t face any competition in the 85kg category, carrying a load of 300kg (140+160) for the gold.

Kavita won on a canter, totalling a lift of 210kg (92+118) in the women’s 75kg.

Spikers sparkle

Indian volleyball teams set themselves up for an expectedly grand double after marching into the final with lop-sided victories. While the male spikers blanked Maldives 25-17, 25-20, 25-19, the female counterparts thrashed Nepal 25-10, 25-9, 25-15. Both the finals will be played on Tuesday.

Cyclists shine

Indian cyclists continued to call the shots, landing another double. While Rutuja Satpute, Manisha G, Chaoba Devi Elangbam and Udeshani Niranjani won the women’s 40km team trial gold with a final timing of 59:23.52, the male quartet of Manjeet Singh, Deepak Kumar, Manohar Lal and Nisar Ahmed claimed gold in the men’s 70km team trial with a timing of 1::37:37.840.

Hockey eves win

India’s women’s hockey team hardly broke a sweat in their second straight match, hammering a hapless Sri Lanka 12-1 to seal their final spot in style on Monday.

In the three-team competition, the eves, clear-cut favourites for the gold, expectedly made the Sri Lankans do all the running with as many seven getting their name on the score sheet.

Jaspreet Kaur nailed in five goals while Soundarya Yendala struck a brace. Rani, Sonika, Jyoti Gupta, Deepika and Gurjit Kaur also scored one apiece. The Indians had beaten Nepal 24-0 in their match on Sunday.