13th South Asian Games concludes as India tops table with 174 gold

The 13th South Asian Games (SAG) 2019 concluded here on Tuesday evening with India gaining the top spot with 312 medals including 174 gold, reports Xinhua.
   Sending a video message on Tuesday, Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli extended gratitude to all for making the 13th SAG a grand success. He said that the event has further promoted understanding, goodwill, harmony, unity, and solidarity among the people of South Asia.
   Nepali deputy prime minister, ministers and members of parliament along with other high level officials attended the closing ceremony at the Dasharath Stadium, filled with thousands of sports enthusiasts from all South Asian countries, except Afghanistan.
   Addressing the ceremony, Nepali Minister for Sports and Youth Jagat Bahadur Biswakarma said that the multi-sports event has enhanced the friendship among the people of South Asian nations.
   The event was held at the sports complex, located in the central part of city, which was reconstructed with the aid of China after it was severely damaged by the earthquake of 2015.
   The Himalayan country grabbed 206 medals in total in the multi-sports extravaganza including 51 gold. Just prior to the closing, Nepal grabbed the last gold on men’s football defeating Bhutan by 2-1.
   Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh won 40, 31 and 19 gold medals respectively. Maldives got one gold medal whereas Bhutan brought home with silver and bronze medals.
   Th games, which kicked off on Dec.1, offered 1,063 medals in total, including 316 gold, 316 silver and 431 bronze medals.
   Around 7,000 delegates including athletes and officials from seven South Asian countries took part in the 2019 SAG, featuring 26 sports disciplines. The games were held in three cities Kathmandu, Pokhara and Janakpur.
   The 10-day event had an extravaganza concluding ceremony filled with spectacular light shows, grand march pass and cultural performance. Firework, which is rarely seen in the capital city, became the major attraction for the audiences in the winter evening.
   Besides, the Chinese drone-show was one of the most important attraction of the two-hour long event, where at least 150 drones together created images of Nepal’s map, flag, SAG logo and mascot, among others.
   The closing ceremony not just housed the players and delegates from sports fraternity, but also artists, celebrities and people from different walks of life.
   Nepal hosted SAG for the third time, as it hosted the event under the banner of South Asian Federation Games for the first time in 1984 and second time in 1999. The 14th edition of SAG will be hosted by Pakistan.
   The capital city Kathmandu had turned into a sports hub in the last few days with the decorations, flexes, digital displays and promotional materials, while the city dwellers were filled with the sports enthusiasm.
   To handle the large crowd and to ensure smooth mobility, the metropolitan traffic police had adopted an odd-even scheme for public and private vehicles for the opening and closing day.  Enditem