Judoka wins all 5 Golds on final day, India bags 118 Gold

Colombo, Aug 27 (UNI) Indian judokas swooped all five Gold medals on the final day of the competition to return with a rich haul of nine Gold in the 10th SAF Games at St Joseph College here today.

With this, India's medal tally in the Games surged to 231, that includes 118 Gold, 68 Silver and 45 Bronze.

Despite not competing in wrestling and weightlifting -- because of federation disputes and doping ban respectively on those two disciplines -- India bettered its 2004 record which had them winning 103 Gold, 57 Silver and 32 Bronze.

In men's 60kg judo today, Navjot Chana dominated the mat and his superior grappling and throwing technique found no match as the Indian beat Pakistani Waris Ali to secure the Gold. Milton Majuumdar (Bangladesh) and Devendra Karmacharya (Nepal) shared Bronze.

Virender Singh also joined the gold rush and he won the 73kg event with consummate ease. His pinning ploy against Pakistani Kamran Butt paid rich dividends and the Indian had little problem in walking away with top honour.

Afghan judoka Shahjahan Habibi and Lankan SK Hapuarachchi finished with the Bronze.

Parvinder Singh also proved technically superior to his opponents in the 66kg and his deft handling of joint-locks earned him the Gold in the final bout against Bangladesh's Md Habibur Rahman.

Pakistani Muhammad Zeesha Butt and Nepal's Subrat Shrestha returned with the Bronze.

Among the eves, Bembem Devi Laishram won all her 48kg category bouts and beat Sri Lankan Chamila Wijeratne in the final to win the event. Nepal's Radha Devi Rai and Pakistani Humaira Ashiq finished with the Bronze.

Another female judoka, Anita Chanu won the 52kg Gold to complete the sweep.

Earlier, India had picked up five Gold medals yesterday.

In men's 100kg category, Yashpal Solanki won the Gold, while Anil Kumar triumphed in the 90kg event.

Among the eves, Ch Jina D Chongtham won the 70kh Gold, while L Brajeshawari Devi won the 57kg event and Garima Chaudhary won the fifth Gold in 63kg event.

Men's 81kg category was the only event in which India missed a Gold and Shamsher Singh had to be satisfied with the Silver, behind his Pakistani opponent Saeed Akhtar.

UNI AY DH RS2003