SAg 2006 Colombo Sri Lanka

X South Asian Games
Host city	Colombo,  Sri Lanka
Nations participating	8
Athletes participating	2000 +
Events	20 Sports
Opening ceremony	August 18
Closing ceremony	August 28
Main Stadium	Sugathadasa Stadium

The 2006 South Asian Games(also known as 2006 SAF Games or 10th SAF Games) were held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from August 18 to August 28, 2006 in theSugathadasa Stadium with more than 2000 sportspersons competing in the record 20 disciplines of Sports.

The 10th edition of SAF Games also marked the debut for Afghanistan. Another highlight of 2006 SAF Games was unprecedented high levels of security for officials & players amid violent clashes between the Sri Lankan Government’s troops andLTTE.^[1] Earlier in 2005, the Games,originally scheduled to be held in 2005, had been postponed after a tsunami wave devastated the region.^[2]

The next SAF Games were held at Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2010.

Contents  [hide] 1 Brand 2 Sports 3 Medal table 4 Highlights 5 Doping 6 References 7 External links

[edit]Brand

Pora-Pol (an ancient sport of coconut fighting) and Wali kukula (a jungle fowl) were chosen as the official logo and mascot for the 2006 SAF Games, respectively. However they drew some criticism for the lack of creativity particularly in the case of mascot.

[edit]Sports

The 2006 South Asian Games encompassed a record 20 disciplines with hockey being reintroduced after several years.

Archery (details)  Athletics (details)  Badminton (details)  Boxing (details)  Cycling (details)  Football (details)  Hockey (details)

Judo (details)       Kabaddi (details)  Karate (details)  Rowing (details)  Shooting (details)  Squash (details)  Swimming (details)

Table tennis (details)  Taekwondo (details)  Volleyball (details)  Weightlifting (details)  Wrestling (details)  Wushu (details)

[edit]Medal table

Further information: List of gold medalists at 2006 South Asian Games

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	India	118	59	37	214
2	Pakistan	46	71	67	184
3	Sri Lanka	37	63	78	178
4	Nepal	15	14	31	60
5	Afghanistan	6	7	18	31
6	Bangladesh	3	15	32	50
7	Bhutan	0	3	10	13
8	Maldives	0	0	0	0

[edit]Highlights

• Nagalingm Edirith Weeresinghe and Sriyani Kulawansa (both former Sri Lankan athletes) lit the Games torch at the opening ceremony.
• India made a clean sweep at Archery, Badminton, Rowing, Wushu.
• Women’s Kabaddi event was introduced for the first time in the history of games.
• Maldives failed to claim any medal for the second consecutive time.
• Sri Lanka Swimmer Mayumi Raheem wins 10 medals (3 Gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze) a record for any athlete at a single games

[edit]Doping

The 10th SAF games couldn’t be freed from infamous trend of steroid-using by athletes to boost their performance, as a group of athletes were reportedly tested positive for the use of banned performance enhancing substance. Prominent athletes alleged to test positive included Nepal’s double gold-medalist Rajendra Bhandari, Pakistani boxers Nauman Karim & Mohammed Lassi and Sri Lanka’s Jani Chathurangani Silva.^[3].An Indian athlete was also said to have failed a dope test.^[4]

[edit]