Shillong, February 7: India’s men and women beat Sri Lanka and Pakistan, respectively, to win the team gold medals in both the sections of the table tennis competition at the South Asian Games, being held here today.

Sri Lankan men and Pakistan women picked the team silver medals, respectively, while the bronze in the men’s section went to Pakistan and Nepal. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had to be satisfied with the bronze in women’s team event.

In the men’s final against Sri Lanka, who qualified for the final after beating Pakistan in the semifinals, India trounced 3-0 and the hosts’ women team outclassed Pakistan 3-0 to send a clear warning to the remaining squads from the region of what to expect in the doubles and individual events that follow the team championships.

Except for a couple of games in the men’s final—Anthony Amalraj vs Udaya Ranasinghe and Sanil Shetty vs Nirmala Jayasinghe—where there were occasions when Indians struggled a bit, there was no real threat coming from anywhere.

Amalraj began strongly but was not only extended in his second game but even lost the third to Udaya. He, however, did well to finish off in the next. Similarly, Sanil Shetty started badly losing his first game to Nirmala Jayasinghe, who had answers to all his strokes and drives, only to pick his momentum from the second to win 3-1. He was down 9-5 in the fourth but managed to deuce at 10-10, picking five points and allowing just a solitary point to his opponent as he saved two game points. Though he squandered his first match point, he sealed the Sri Lankan’s fate in the second to help India win the gold.

In the second rubber, G. Sathiyan put India 2-0 up without a fuss as he shut out whatever little challenge was there from Rohan Sirisena.

In the women’s final, the Pakistanis were no match to the guile and experience of Manika Batra, Mouma Das and K. Shamini who completed the demolition job in much quicker time to pave the way for the men’s final.  

Earlier in the first semifinal, Indian women beat Bangladesh 3-0 and Pakistan accounted for Sri Lanka 3-2 in a tough second semifinal. Even the Sri Lankan men had to stage a comeback against Nepal’s men in the semifinal which the former won 3-2. 

Results:

Men: Final: India bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Anthony Amalraj bt Udaya Ranasinghe 11-9, 13-11, 6-11, 11-8, G. Sathiyan bt Rohan Sirisena 11-3, 11-3, 11-3,  Sanil Shetty bt Nirmala Jayasinghe 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 13-11); Semifinals: India bt Pakistan 3-0 (G Sathiyan bt M Ramees 11-7, 11-1, 11-4, A Amalraj bt Asim Qureshi 11-6, 11-4, 11-5, Devesh Karia bt Ali Sajad Faisal 11-7, 11-3, 11-8); Sri Lanka bt Nepal 3-2 (Udaya Ranasinghe bt Deep Saun 11-9, 11-6, 11-4, Rohan Sirisena lost to Purushottam Bajracharya 8-11, 8-11, 9-11, Nirmala Jayasinghe lost to  Shiv Sundar Gathe 7-11, 8-11, 8-11, Udaya Ranasinghe bt Purushottam Bajracharya 11-9, 11-9, 11-7, Rohan Sirisena bt Deep Saun 11-7, 14-12, 12-10).

Women: Final: India bt Pakistan 3-0 (Manika Batra bt Raheela Kashif 11-2, 11-6, 11-6, Mouma Das bt Shabnam Bilal 11-7, 11-4, 11-4, K. Shamini bt Ayesha Ansari 11-3, 11-3, 11-7); Semifinals: India bt Bangladesh 3-0 (Pooja Sahasrabudhe bt Moumita Alam 11-4, 11-3, 11-5,  K. Shamini bt Rahima Akhter 11-3, 11-3, 11-5, Madhurika Patkar bt Snigaha Sultana 11-2, 11-5, 11-7); Pakistan bt Sri Lanka 3-2 (Raheela Kashif lost to Ruvini Kannangura 11-8, 3-11, 1-11, 6-11, Shabnam Bilal bt Ishara Madhurangi 11-4, 2-11, 11-9, 11-9, Ayesha Ansari lost to Erandi Warasavotjama 8-11, 9-11, 11-13, Raheela Kashif bt Ishara Madhurangi 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9, Shabnam Bilal bt Ruvini Kannangura 11-9, 16-18, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9).