Highlights of 13th South Asian Games held in Kathmandu & Pokhara, Nepal

The 13th edition of the South Asian Games (SAG), officially known as XIII South Asian Games held in Kathmandu and Pokhara in Nepal. These were organized by the South Asia Olympic Council (SAOC). India topped the medal tally winning a total of 311 medals comprising 173 gold, 93 silver, and 45 bronze medals. India was followed by Nepal and Sri Lanka in the second and third rank respectively.

Game highlights:

• Mascot:  Blackbuck (Krishnashar), is the official mascot for the 13th South Asian Games.
• Participants: A total of 7 nations namely India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Srilanka participated in the South Asian Games.
• Medal record by India: India’s 311 medals surpassed the medal count of 309, it obtained in the previous(12th) edition of the South Asian games held in Guwahati(Assam) and Shillong(Meghalaya) in 2016.
  • It is also to be noted that India has topped the medal tally of every South Asian Games since its inception in 1984.

Indian men, women’s kho kho teams win gold medals in South Asian Games:
i.The Indian men and women’s kho kho teams won gold medals after defeating Bangladesh and Nepal respectively at the 13th South Asian Games.  In the men’s team India’s Deepak Madhav was the top scorer.

• Runners: In the men’s Kho kho finals, Bangladesh emerged as runners while in the women’s kho kho finals, Nepal emerged as runners.

Amalraj, Sutirtha win TT singles titles in South Asian Games:

i.Men’s TT winner: Amalraj Anthony Arputharaj (Tamil Nadu) defeated India’s Harmeet Desai(Gujarat) to win the Men’s singles title in the Table Tennis(TT) event. Anthony won the gold medal while Harmeet settled with silver medal.

ii.Women’s TT winner: In the women’s singles TT match, India’s Sutirtha Mukherjee (West Bengal) won gold medal by defeating India’s Ayhika Mukherjee who settled with Silver medal

Indian women’s football team clinches third successive SAG gold, beats Nepal 2-0
i.India won the gold medal in the women’s football game after defeating Nepal for 2-0. Both the goals from the Indian side was scored by MG Baladevi. Maldives won the bronze medal in the women’s football game.

Vikas, Pinki win gold as India finish boxing campaign with 16 medals 
i.India’s Vikas Krishan Yadav (69kg) and Pinki Rani Jangra (51kg) both from Haryana, won gold medals each in the Men and women’s boxing events respectively. With this the Indian boxing team won a total of 16 medals.

About Nepal:
Capital- Kathmandu.
Currency- Nepalese rupee.
President- Bidhya Devi Bhandari.
Prime Minister- Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli.