Medals, action, drama, some near misses: India records most successful day in Asian Games history

New Delhi [India]: A flurry of medals on the eighth day saw India’s haul in the ongoing Asian Games zoom past 50.

India won 15 medals on the day, its best-ever haul in a single day in the history of the Asian Games. Of the medals that came India’s way, there were 3 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze.

The day was marked by drama, hits and misses, with athletics predominantly courting the headlines in India.

Of the 15 medals that India clinched on Sunday, 9 came in athletics events. Track and field athlete Avinash Sable shattered the Asian Games record as he comfortably secured India’s first men’s 3000m steeplechase gold medal at the continental meet.

Tajinderpal Singh Toor defended his men’s shot put crown at Hangzhou with his sixth and final attempt of 20.36m.

Harmilan Bains in women’s 1500m claimed silver while Murali Sreeshankar missed gold in men’s long jump and settled for silver after falling short by just 0.03 seconds.

His second-spot finish saw a best of 8.19 meters, bettered only by China’s Wang Jianan with 8.22m.

Ajay Kumar Saroj and Jinson Johnson secured second and third positions in the men’s 1500m.

India’s ace discus thrower Seema Punia and heptathlon athlete Nandini Agasara settled for bronze medals.

Jyothi Yarraji clinched a silver in women’s 100m hurdles after a dramatic sequence of events. The 24-year-old athlete was initially awarded the bronze medal. However, China’s Wu Yanni was disqualified after the race for a false start in the final event of the day, upgrading Yarraji’s medal to a silver.

In shooting, India finished their campaign at the Asian Games with their best-ever haul, claiming 22 medals (7 gold, 9 silver and 6 bronze).

Hyderabad shooter Darius Kynan Chenai secured a bronze medal in the men’s trap individual final.

With 32 points, he captured the bronze medal with his precise shots, but it wasn’t enough for him to move past the other two competitors.

The gold medal went to China’s Ying Qi with 46 points while the silver was bagged by Kuwait’s Talat Alrashidi with 45 points.

In trap-and-shoot, a six-a-side event, India win silver while China took home the gold medal with a total of 357 points, setting a world record, Asian record and Asian Games record in this category of shooting. The bronze was won by Kazakhstan with 336 points.

Also, the Indian shooting trio of Darius Kynan Chenai, Zoravar Singh Sandhu and Prithviraj Tondaiman won gold in the men’s trap team event on Sunday.

Kuwait captured the silver medal with 359 points, falling short of gold. With 354 points, China walked away with the bronze.

With a total of 361 points, India won the gold and also set a new Asian Games record, toppling the previous record by Kuwait from 1994.

Earlier, the Indian shooting duo of Sarabjot Singh and Divya Subbaraju secured a silver medal in the mixed 10 m air rifle pistol team event at the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou on Saturday.

With a total of 14 points, India fell just two points short of gold to China, which secured a total of 16 points to get the top prize.

On the other hand, the Indian men’s badminton team on Sunday bagged the first-ever silver medal in the Asian Games after losing in the final 2-3 against hosts China in Hangzhou.

This was India’s best-ever finish in team events of the Asian Games. China claimed a gold medal in the Men’s badminton event at the 19th Asian Games for the second successive time.

India has won 53 medals, comprising 13 gold, 21 silver, and 19 bronze.