Ashish strikes gold at Central Asian Championships

New Delhi: Commonwealth and Asian Games bronze-medallist Ashish Kumar struck gold not once but four times as India notched up a whopping 17 medals at the South Central Asian Gymnastics Championships in Dhaka.

The Indian team comprising five men and four women secured six gold medals in the total tally of 17. Ashish was the best male gymnast of the event, claiming four individual gold medals along with a bronze (individual) and a silver (team). Ashish`s gold medals came in the all-round, floor, vault and hi-bar events. The Indian men`s team -- comprising Ashish, Alok Ranjan, Devesh Kumar, Aditya Rana and Iqrar Hasan -- won a silver totalling 246.90 points, two behind gold-medallist Uzbekistan. Sri Lanka settled for the bronze medal with 214.65 points in the competition. The women`s team -- comprising Dipa Karmakar, Meenakshi, Rucha Diveker and Vandita Rawal -- secured a gold medal ahead of Bangladesh and bronze-medallists Sri Lanka. Dipa also won a gold medal in table vault besides two silver medals and a bronze in other events, the Gymnastics Federation of India said in a statement. The other Indian medal winners were Alok Ranjan (bronze in pommel), Devesh Kumar (bronze on parallel bars), Meenakshi (silver in vault and floor and bronze in all around) and Rucha (bronze on floor). PTI