Archers shine, footballers play a draw

shillong, FEBRUARY 5

Archers Tarundeep Rai and Deepika Kumari produced their best to top their respective qualification rounds as India reigned supreme in the recurve archery competitions of the 12th South Asian Games.

India also topped in the compound section with Abhishek Verma and Purvasha Shende claiming the honours in the men's and women's sections, respectively, at the Polo ground.

Following the Asian Games protocol, two archers from each country made the cut in the elimination round as archer Jayanta Talukdar made an exit with promising Army archer Gurucharan Besra (666 points) making the last 16. Tarundeep Rai topscored with 676 points.

The Indian duo will get a bye into the quarters as they also topped the team event with Jayanta Talukdar. The hosts will also get a bye into the semifinals of the team event which has a draw of eight.

In the women's recurve event, Kumari finished on top (668 points) followed by Bombayla Devi Laishram (646) as Laxmirani Majhi failed to make the cut. Laxmirani, with a score of 632 points, joined Kumari and Devi in the team event as India also topped in the women's recurve section.

However, there was disappointment for reigning champions India as they had to be content with a goalless draw against lower-ranked Maldives in the women's football competition, the only other discipline that kicked off the Shillong leg of the SAG here.

Nepal, meanwhile, shocked Bangladesh 3-0 in the women's football to top the group. The Indian eves dominated the proceedings but could not find a goal as Maldives, who are ranked 129 in FIFA women's football compared to India's 57, stole a point. It was a display of attacks after attacks by the eves but the only missing link was finding the net as none of their raids resulted in a goal.

The Indian eves played with a 4-3-3 formation but their forwards could not find their coordination going.

PM Modi declares Games open in colourful ceremony

The rich and diverse culture of India's northeast was on display in all its splendour as curtains went up on the 12th South Asian Games in a colourful opening ceremony with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of other dignitaries in attendance.

Prime Minister Modi declared the Games open at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium to mark the formal beginning of the 12-day event to be attended by more than 2,600 athletes. Eight countries —Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, besides India — will be vying for the top honours in the Games to be co-hosted by Guwahati and Shillong.

Rescheduled several times due to various reasons, the much-delayed but the biggest ever South Asian Games being held under the aegis of South Asian Olympics Council begin after a delay of four years. — PTI