South Asian Games: Indian men, women paddlers win gold

Shillong, Feb 7  Indian men and women paddlers on Sunday won gold in the team event at the 12th South Asian Games here in Meghalaya.

At the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium hall, the Indian eves team comprising Monika Batra, Mouma Das and K. Samini beat Raheela Kasif, Shabnam Bibi and Ayesha Ansari of Pakistan in straight sets.

Indian men paddlers A. Amalraj, G. Sathiyan and S. Shetty beat Sri Lanka's Udaya Ranasinghe, Rohan Srisena and N. Jayasinghe in three straight matches to defend their title.

Indian national champion Amalraj went first and faced some resistance from Ranasinghe, but he ultimately came through in four games.

"It was not such a tough win. With this win, we are aiming for the other five available in the individual events, which begin on Monday with the women's singles," Indian coach Arup Basak said after the medal ceremony.

"We are definitely planning for the Olympics and intend to go for the World Championship, which is going to be held in April," he added.