South Asian Games 2019 Badminton results, day 4: Indian shuttlers finish campaign with six gold medals

Indian shuttlers finished their brilliant campaign at the 13th South Asian Games in Pokhara, Nepal on Friday with a rich haul of 10 medals that includes six gold, two silver and two bronze.

The impressive show propelled India to the top of the medal standings ahead of Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The Indian contingent had started their badminton challenge by bagging the gold medals in the men's and women's team events. They continued their winning spree in the individual events as well by claiming four out of a possible five gold medals on offer.

Rising stars, Siril Verma and Ashmita Chaliha did justice to their top seeding as they finished on the top podium. Along with them, the men's doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Krishna Prasad Garaga and the mixed doubles combine of Meghana Jakkampudi and Dhruv Kapila contributed to India's burgeoning gold medal count.

In an all-Indian men's singles final, Siril Verma was made to work hard by his compatriot Aryaman Tandon. The former World Junior Championships silver medallist lost the first game but produced a stunning show of resilience to come back and complete a 17-21, 23-21, 21-13 win.

Assam's wonderkid, Ashmita Chaliha battled past Pullela Gopichand's daughter, Gayatri in a blockbuster showdown between two of India's most promising talents. The 20-year-old Guwahati girl managed to stop a late surge from Gopichand to win 21-18, 25-23.

In men's doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Krishna Prasad Garaga edged Sri Lanka’s Sachin Premshan Dias Angoda Vidanalage and Buwaneka Tharindu Dullew Dumbukola Goonathilake 21-19,19-21, 21-18 in a tightly-contested summit clash. Kapila also went on to add the mixed doubles gold when he and Meghana Jakkampudi beat Sachin Premshan Dias Angoda Vidanalage and Thilini Pramodika Hendehewe of Sri Lanka 21-16, 21-14.

India won one gold less this time after a clean sweep in the 2016 edition in Guwahati. The only category in which Indians couldn't reach the final this year was the women's doubles, where the pairs of Sikki Reddy-Meghana Jakkampudi and Kuhoo Garg-Anoushka Parikh bowed out in the semi-finals, thereby pocketing the bronze.

In the previous edition, Kidambi Srikanth was crowned the men's singles champion with a victory over HS Prannoy while Ruthvika Shivani Gadde upset PV Sindhu to win the women's singles gold.