SAG Table Tennis G Sathiyan and Devesh Karia made short work of Anthony Amalraj and Sanil Shetty in the final of the table tennis men's doubles at the 12th South Asian Games 2016 here today morning. Amalraj was looking for his third gold medal of the tournament, but the national singles champion and his partner were taken down by the young pairing of Sathiyan/Karia in straight games, 11-1, 11,8, 11-6 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Sports Hall. Earlier, Manika Batra and Pooja Sahasrabudhe were crowned champions of the women's doubles by defeating Mouma Das and K Shamini, also in straight games, 11-7, 13-11, 11-5. Although the silver medallists gave the winners a hiccup in the second game that went to 24 points, Batra and Sahasrabudhe had little trouble in the first and third games. With all the contestants in the finals from India, two more gold and two silver were added to India's kitty. Bronze medals were awarded to the losing semifinalists. In the women's category, bronze was won by Nabita Shrestha and Elina Maharjan of Nepal and Ishara Madhurangi and Erandi Warusawithana of Sri Lanka. Both bronzes in the men's category went to pairs from Sri Lanka - Rohan Sirisena/Chameern Ginge and Udaya Ranasinghe/Nirmala Jayasinghe. Medal ceremonies for both men's and women's doubles were held immediately after the men's final. The dignitaries who gave away the medals in the women's doubles were Joint CEO (Shillong) of the 12th South Asian Games 2016 and Meghalaya Sports and Youth Affairs Commissioner and Secretary Mr. FR Kharkongor, Meghalaya Sports and Youth Affairs Director Mr. FM Dopth, Meghalaya Sports and Youth Affairs Deputy Director Mr. J Marak and Mr. Passang Dingla of the Arunachal Pradesh Table Tennis Association. The dignitaries who gave away the medals in the men's doubles were Mr. SM Bali of the Indian Olympic Association, Mr. Francis Marwein of the Sports Authority of India, Mr. John Kharshiing of the Meghalaya State Olympic Association and Mr. MP Singh of the Table Tennis Federation of India.
