As expected, India swept the gold medals at the 7th Carrom World Cup in Maldives. Apart from the seven gold medals at stake, the Indian contingent won four silver and three bronze medals to finish with a tally of 14 medals.
K Srinivas, who works with ONGC, had to settle for a silver in the men’s singles as he lost to countrymate Prashanth More. However, Srinivas, who hails from Telangana, took sweet revenge as he and Abhijith Tripankar defeated Prashanth More and Sandeep Dive to bag the men’s doubles gold. Srinivas also won gold in the Team Championship apart from claiming a bronze medal in the Swiss League, which was won by India’s Abdul Asif. Srinivas finished the competition with two gold, one silver and a bronze medal.
In the women’s singles, India’s Keerthana L bagged the title ahead of India’s Kajal Kumari. Keerthan made it a double as she and Kajal combined to down teammates Khazima and Mithra V to clinch the yellow medal. She also won the gold medal in the team event.
The tournament was held from December 2 to 6 at Barcelona Nasandhura in Male, Maldives.
Final placings: Women’s singles: 1. Keerthana L (India), 2. Kajal Kumari (India), 3. Khazima (India). Doubles: Keerthana L/Kajal Kumar (India), 2. Khazima/Mithra V (India), 3. Preeti Jakhotia/Tejasvi Duduka (USA). Team event (women): 1. India, 2. Maldives, 3. Sri Lanka.
Men’s singles: 1. Prashanth More (India), 2. K Srinivas (India), 3. Abhijith Tripankar (India). Doubles: K Srinivas/Abhijith Tripankar, 2. Prashanth More/Sandeep Dive, 3. Lenus Paul/ Ramandeep T (Singapore). Team event (men): 1. India, 2. Sri Lanka, 3. Bangladesh. Swiss League: 1. Abdul Asif (India), 2. Hafizur Ur Rahman (Bangladesh), 3. K Srinivas (India).
Medal tally: India (14) 7 gold 4 silver, 3 bronze; Sri Lanka (2) 0 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze; Bangladesh (2) 0 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze; Maldives (1) 0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze; Singapore (1) 0 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze; USA (1) 0 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze.
