India finish 11th in Asian Indoor Games

Ashgabat [Turkmenistan], Sept 28 (ANI): India bagged four medals, including a gold through tennis player Sumit Nagal, to finish at 11th place on the concluding day of the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games at Ashgabat in Turkmenistan yesterday.

Nagal clinched the men's singles gold medal in the tennis event as he swept aside compatriot Vijay Sundar Prashanth 6-1, 6-1 in the all-Indian final. Nagal also broke Prashanth five times during the match.

It was Prashanth's second medal in the tournament. He had earlier picked a gold in the men's doubles event along with fellow countryman Vishnu Vardhan.

India also collected two bronze medals on the last day through chess.

K Sasikiran and Surya Sekhar Ganguly slumped to a defeat at the hands of the Vietnam pair of Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son in the semifinals of men's blitz team event to settle for a bronze.

Meanwhile, the Indian team of Diptayan Ghosh and Vaibhav Suri lost to the Iranian duo of Alireza Firouzja and Parham Maghsoodloo in the last-four clash to be content with the bronze in the men's blitz team under-23.

With a total of nine gold, 12 silver and 19 bronze, India ended at 11th position in the Games. Hosts Turkmenistan topped the medals tally with 89 gold, 70 silver and 86 bronze, followed by China and Iran.

More than 200 athletes in 15 sports disciplines represented India in the Games, which is considered as the second biggest multi-sporting event of the continent after the Asian Games. (ANI)