Dhaka: Aiming for a medal haul, India opened their account on second day of the 11th South Asian Games when the women's cycling team earned a gold, while the men's hockey team spanked an inexperienced Nepal 21-0 in a completely lop-sided match, here Saturday.
Indian squash duo of Sandip Jangra and Gaurav Nandrajog also assured the country at least one medal by advancing into the semi-final stage.
The women cyclist quartet of Rameshwari Devi, Suchitra Devi, Mahidha Mohan and Rejani V reigned supreme in the 30-km road team trial at Bangladesh Krida Shiksha Pratisthan (BKSP) in Khulna to earn India the first medal.
Pakistan had to settle for silver, while Sri Lanka won the bronze medal.
The women's team dominated the race from the beginning as they clocked 44 minutes 22.15 seconds, while Pakistan's Ayesha Amin, Misbah Mushta Ali, Rahila Banu and Sidra Sadaf took 47:04.06s.
Sri Lankans Lasanthi Krishna, Nilaka Shyamal, Nirushani Perera and Pushpo Rani had a timing of 47:07.08s.
Meanwhile, it was a complete domination by India at the Moulana Bhashani Stadium, where Ajitesh Roy led from the front banging five goals (15th, 58th, 59th, 66th and 68th minutes).
Indian forwards Yuvraj Walmiki and Mohammed Aamir Khan slammed the board thrice each after India drew first blood in the 40th minute through Walmiki who went on to score two more in the ninth and 64th minutes.
Mohammed Aamir banged in three goals in the seventh, 20th and 57th minutes of the match. Pramod Kumar, V Raghunath and Hamza Mujtaba also chipped in with good performance.
Veteran defender Raghunath converted penalty corners in the 13th and 50th minutes, while forward Pramod sounded the board in the 17th and 44th minutes.
Forward Mujtaba also converted two PCs in the 28th and and 52nd minutes as the Indians goal glut continued against the Nepalese.
Belsajar Horo (10th), Innocent Kulu (31th), Roshan Minz (40th) and Dharamvir Singh (69th) rounded up the scoreline.
In another round robin league match, hosts Bangladesh began on a winning note beating Sri Lanka 3-1 in a tight contest.
There is no women's hockey competition in the Games.
The top two teams will feature in the summit clash, while the third and fourth placed teams will play in bronze medal play-off.
Meanwhile, Jangra and Nandrajog assured India at least one medal by making the last four in the squash event at Dhaka Club.
In the final-four Sunday, it will be India-Pakistan matches with Jangra taking on world number 19 Aamir Atlas Khan, while Nandrajog will face the challenge from Farhan Mahboob.
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Jangra beat Sri Lanka's Naveen, while Nandrajog got the better of Swaresh both with an identical 3-1 scoreline.
In the other squash quarterfinals, Pakistan's Mehboob blanked Swapan Parvej of Bangladesh 3-0, whose compatriot Masood Rana was thrashed 0-3 by Khan.
In badminton, both Indian men's and women's players got byes to the semifinal. There were six in the men's section, while five teams featured in the women section.
India and Nepal got byes leaving Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to play quarterfinals in the men's section.
Bangladesh whipped Maldives 5-0, while Sri Lanka won against Pakistan 3-2 to make the last-four.
In men's semifinal tomorrow, Indian will take on hosts Bangladesh while Sri Lanka will face Nepal.
In the women's section, India and Nepal, who got byes, will take on each other in the final-four encounter.
In the quarters at Woodenfloor Gymnasium, Bangladesh eves beat Pakistan 3-2 and will play Sri Lanka, who also got bye.
Indian volleyball side too had a winning start when they overcame Sri Lanka 3-1 at the Indian Shahid Soharwardy Indoor Stadium in Mirpur.
Indian spikers took the lead (25-23, 25-19) before their opponents gave them a scare taking the third set. India lost 23-25 in the third set but clinched the match taking the fourth one 25-19. Naveen Jacob Raja, Sube Singh and Surender Singh did well for India.
In another round-robin match, Maldives beat Bangladesh in a thrilling 3-2 competition. Maldives took the first two sets (27-25, 25-20) before Bangladesh bounced back to equalise (18-25, 20-25).
In the decider, Maldives settled the issue 15-13.
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