Sapna Devi and Joshna Chinappa win gold medal at SAG

India continued to dominate on the second day of the 12th South Asian Games (SAG) with Sapna Devi winning gold in the women’s Wushu Taolu (Changquan) competition. Sapna scored 9.45 points to emerge as the winner while the silver went to Susmita Tamang of Nepal who had a score of 8.72. Pakistan’s Nazia Parvaiz took the bronze with a score of 6:30 points.

Star player Joshna Chinappa clinched the gold in women’s individual squash after beating Maria Toorpaki Wazir of Pakistan in a tense and ill-tempered summit clash to make up for India’s disappointment in the men’s event. Joshna, ranked 14th in the world, faced a robust challenge from Maria, ranked 50, in a match that was often reduced to excessive gamesmanship.

The India-Pakistan final enhanced the tension, which seemed to influence the players, forcing chief referee Munir Shah to caution both and urging them to desist from “intentional obstruction and dramatisation of infringements.”

With Chinappa’s gold, India has so far won three medals in squash with Sourav Ghosal and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu having grabbed a bronze each after losing to their Pakistani opponents.


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