2019 South Asian Games concluded in Nepal: India finish on top

South Asian Games 2019 concluded on 10 December in Nepal, with India finishing on top with a best-ever medal haul of 312 medals comprising of 174 gold, 93 silver and 45 bronze. Host Nepal remained second and Sri Lanka got third place in the regional multi-sporting. The year 2019 marks the 13^th edition of South Asian Games.

Key Highlights

India finished on top, continuing its undisputed domination in regional multi-sporting event by finishing on top for the 13th time-in-a-row. India has topped the medal tally of every South Asian Games since its establishment in 1984.

In this 13th edition India surpassed its 309 medal tally (189 gold, 90 silver and 30 bronze) it had won in the previous edition in Guwahati and Shillong in 2016. However, the number of gold India won this time was 15 less than 2016 edition. India had sent 487 athletes in this edition.

Hosts Nepal stood 2nd with 206 medals (51 gold, 60 silver and 95 bronze) while Sri Lanka was 3rd with 251 medals (40 gold, 83 silver and 128 bronze).

Basketball: Indian cagers fetched both the men’s and women’s basketball gold by defeating host Nepal (127-46) and Sri Lanka (101-62) in their respective summit clashes.

Squash: In squash, India won a gold and a silver in women’s and men’s team events respectively.

Boxing: Indian boxers brought home a rich haul of 12 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze. 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Pinki Rani (women’s 51kg category) and Commonwealth Games (CWG) gold medallist Vikas Krishan (men’s 69kg category) guided India to 6 more gold medals. Other boxers among men who bagged the gold were, Sparsh Kumar (52kg), Narender (+91kg). While Sonia Lather (57kg) and Manju Bamboriya (64kg) also contributed to India’s gold medal tally among women.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2019