India dominates Wushu as Meitei wins gold in SAG

Punshiva Meitei clinched gold and Swachaha Jatav got the silver for India in the men's and women's Wushu competition respectively at the 12th South Asian Games (SAG) at the Rising Sun Sports Complex here on Monday.

India now have two gold, one silver and one bronze in their basket from Wushu. Meitei scored 18.60 points in the Wushu Taolu Nanquan and Nangun all-round to emerge as the winner while the silver went to Yubaraj Thapa of Nepal who had a score of 17.66.

Sri Lanka's H.M.Manuranga took the bronze with a score of 16.51 points.

In the women's competition, Nepal's Nima Gharti Magar scored 16.91 points to win gold in Wushu Taolu (Nanqua and Nandao). Swechcha, who scored 16.33 points, got the silver followed by Pakistan's Mubashra Akhtar who had to settle for the bronze after scoring 12.70 points.

"I am very happy and feeling proud for India. My hard work and training finally paid off," Meitei said after the medal ceremony.

Meanwhile, the men's 65 kg Sanshou quarter-final saw Arun Nagar shine for India with a win over Sri Lanka's S. N. Deshpriya while Afghanistana's Shekib Haidari defeated Bangladesh's Md Rakib Hossan in another contest.

Other quarter-final matches saw Afghanistana's Maroof Haidari display an impressive performance to overcome Nepal's Chitra Singh Thakur while Maz Khan of Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka's Nid Aberathane in the men's 70 kg category. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Rashid Minhas beat Nepal's Dhanbir Maharajan in the men's 75 kg category.

In the women's Sanshou semi-finals in the 52kg category, Yumnam Sanathoi Devi of India defeated Bangladesh's Most Nur Bano while Jharana Gurung of Nepal beat Afghanistan's Zarmira Ibrahim.

In the women's 60kg category Sanshou semi-finals, Nepal's Juni Rai defeated Rukhsana Hanif of Pakistan while India's Kesisham Arunpama Devi defeated Samira Ibrahim of Afghanistan. The women's 70 kg category saw India's Puja Kadian beat Mst Forida Parvin of Bangladesh while Bindu Pun Magar of Nepal defeated Pakistan's Zarina Rafique.