India finish 6th in Asian Beach Games with two gold

Mumbai: India picked up two gold medals and a bronze to finish sixth in the 3rd Asian Beach Games at Haiyang in China, with the hosts topping the medals chart.

China bagged four gold medals on the last day of the competition yesterday to overtake Thailand, hosts of the next Games in November 2014, and finish on top of the medals table for the first time in Games` history, Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said in a release. The host nation clinched 14 gold medals, 10 silver and 11 bronze medals for a total of 35. Thailand with a total of 29 medals with 13 gold, nine silver and seven bronze were second, after topping the table in Muscat, Oman in 2010 during the 2nd Asian Beach Games. Korea with a total haul of 23 medals were placed third in the table, while Indonesia clinched the fourth spot. Chinese Taipei were fifth, followed by India. A total of 1,601 athletes from 45 nations and regions had participated in 13 sports and 49 events from June 12. India took part in nine sports and fielded 64 athletes in all, winning gold medals in women`s beach kabaddi and basketball and bronze in men`s beach kabaddi. At the closing ceremony, the OCA flag was passed from Haiyang to Phuket, Thailand, the venue of the 4th Beach Games two years later. PTI