Vikas, Pinki Power India To End Boxing Campaign With 16 Medals At 13th SAG

Indian pugilists led by Vikas Krishnan and Pinki Rani clinched six more gold medals on Tuesday, prompting the Indian boxing team to end its campaign at the 13th South Asian Games with 16 medals including 12 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze medal. Other than Vikas and Rani, Sparsh Kumar and Marender also Sonia Lather and Manju Bomboriya took the gold on the ultimate day of the SAG games 2019.

The golden run by was kicked off by Commonwealth Games gold medalist Vikas who was also making a return to the amateur fold after turning pro in 2018. Vikas registered an emphatic 5-0 victory over his opponent from Pakistan Gul Zaib in the 69 kg weight category.

Vikas’s bout was followed by super heavyweight category (+91kg) and Indian boxer Narinder was in action against Nepal’s Ashish Duwadi. Narinder hardly had to sweat as he out punched his opponent with a 5-0 margin to bite gold.

The other two men’s bout tuned out to be a little tricky for Indian contingent as Sparsh Kumar who was representing the country in the 55 kg category had to work hard to take the top spot against Pakistan’s Syed Muhammad Asif, while Varinder Singh (60kg) became the only Indian to suffer defeat in the men’s final.

Sparsh Kumar started slowly against Syed Muhammad Asif but then regained his confidence to clinch the gold with a 4-1 margin. While Varinder Singh had to be content with a silver as he was edged out by Nepal Sanil Shahi with a 3-2 margin.

However, in the women’s division the story was slightly different as all the Indian boxers who competed on Tuesday returned with gold medals.

First, former world championships’ silver medalist Sonia clinched an easy 5-0 victory over Krismi Ayoma Dulanj Lankapurayalage from Sri Lanka to add another gold to her name in the 57 kg category.

Next in line was 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Pinki who was competing in the 51 kg bout against Nepal’s Rai Mala had to overcome a tough resilience from her opponent to win with a 3-2 margin. Manju to suffered the same fate as Pinki against Poonam Rawal of Nepal as she took the gold with a similar margin as Pinki.