Indian Badminton players secure Eight Medals at South Asian Games

India badminton players continued their dominance at the 13th South Asian Games with four individuals and as many double pairs advancing to the semifinals to secure some medals on Wednesday.

Seril Verma, who is seeded top, started the day on a winning note for India when he defeated Pakistan’s Murad Ali 21-12, 21-17 in the men’s singles quarterfinal match.

16-year old Gayathri Gopichand in the women’s singles stunned Pakistan’s Mahoor Shahzad, who was seeded second with a convincing 21-15, 21-16 win.

Ashmita Chaliha, who was also top-seeded, joined Gayathri in the semifinals after she trashed her Pakistani opponent Palwasha Bashir 21-9, 21-7.

Another Indian who joined Verma to reach the men’s singles semifinals was Aryaman Tandon after recording a win of 21-17 over Ranthushka Karunanthilake.

The Indian women’s doubles pairings of Khuoo Grag-Anoushka Parikh and Meghana Jakkampudi Nelakurthi also progressed to the semifinals after beating their Bangladesh counterparts.

In another match, Garg and Parikh beat Bristi Khatun and Rehana Khatun 21-18, 21-11. Jakkampudi and Nelakurthi also scooped up a victory of 21-14, 21-11 over Shalpa Akter and Alina Sultana.

Dhruv Kapila and Jakkampudi, who were seeded top in mixed doubles, had to fight hard in the second set against Sri Lanka’s Rantushka Karunathilake and Kavindi Sirimannage before clinching the match 21-14, 26-24.

The only low point for India came in the men’s doubles category when top-seeded pair of Arun George and Sayam Shukla lost to Sri Lanka’s Dias Angoda Vidanalage and Tharindu Dullew 10-21, 21-23.

Krishna Garaga and Kapila, however, kept India’s medal hopes alive in the men’s doubles category when hey thrashed second-seeded Dipesh Dhami and Ratanjit Tamang of Nepal 21-16, 21-13