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Sports

Indian shuttlers assure eight medals at 13th SAG

Pokhara (Nepal), Dec 4

India shuttlers continued their dominating show at the 13th South Asian Games (SAG) after four individuals and as many doubles pairs entered the semi-finals here on Wednesday. With the entry into the last-4 stage, the shuttlers will at least win bronze at the competition.

Top-seed Siril Verma started the day on a winning note for India when he beat Pakistan's Murad Ali 21-12, 21-17 in the men's singles quarter-final match while, in the women's singles quarter-finals, 16-year-old Gayathri Gopichand stunned second-seed Pakistan's Mahoor Shahzad with a convincing 21-15, 21-16 win.

Joining Gayathri in the semi-finals was top-seed Ashmita Chaliha, who also thrashed her Pakistani opponent Palwasha Bashir 21-9, 21-7. Aryaman Tandon was another Indian after Verma to reach the men's singles semi-finals after he registered a 21-17, 21-17 win over Sri Lanka's Ranthushka Karunathilake.

The Indian women's doubles pairs, Kuhoo Garg-Anoushka Parikh and Meghana Jakkampudi-S Nelakurthi, also progressed into the semi-finals after beating their Bangladeshi opponents. While, Garg and Parikh beat Bristi Khatun and Rehana Khatun 21-18, 21-11, Jakkampudi and Nelakurthi notched up a 21-14, 21-11 win against Shalpa Akter and Alina Sultana.

In the mixed doubles category, the top-seeded pair of Dhruv Kapila and Jakkampudi had to fight hard in the second set against Sri Lanka's Ranthushka Karunathilake and Kavindi Sirimannage before clinching the match 21-14, 26-24.

The only setback for India came in the men's doubles category when the top seeded pair of Arun George and Sanyam Shukla lost to Sri Lanka's S Dias Angoda Vidanalage and B Tharindu Dullew 21-10, 23-21. However, Krishna Garaga and Kapila kept India's medal hopes alive in the men's doubles category when they thrashed second seed Nepal's Dipesh Dhami and Ratanjit Tamang 21-16, 21-13 to enter the semi-finals.

All the semi-final matches will take place on Thursday.