Asian Games: India clinch five medals; three silver, two bronze on opening day

Hangzhou [China]: On the opening day of the ongoing 19th Asian Games, India clinched five medals in shooting and rowing events on Sunday.

India won one silver and one bronze medal in shooting and two silver and one bronze in rowing events.

The trio of Ramita, Mehuli Ghosh and Ashi Chouksey opened India’s medal tally by securing the silver medal in the women’s 10m Air Rifle team event.

Ramita finished with 631.9 Mehuli 630.8 and Ashi 623.3 in the Women’s 10 Metre Air Rifle to clinch the medal.

Later, Indian shooter Ramita Jindal clinched the bronze medal in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle individual event. Ramita won bronze with a score of 230.1 in the final.

In the rowing event, Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh clinched India’s second silver medal in the Asian Games after finishing marginally behind China in the final of the men’s rowing lightweight double sculls.

Lekh Ram and Babu Lal Yadav clinched the second rowing medal with a bronze medal finish in the Men’s Pair Final on Sunday.

The Men’s Coxed Eight Team won another after the 2014 edition to win the third rowing medal at Hangzhou so far.

In cricket, the Indian women’s cricket team secured a place in the final of the Asian Games with a thumping 8-wicket victory against Bangladesh to seal their place in the final of the Asian Games on Sunday.

The Indian men’s hockey team dominated Uzbekistan at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium in Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, securing a resounding 16-0 victory.

For India, Lalit Upadhyay (7’, 24’ 37’, 53’), Varun Kumar (12’, 36’, 50’, 51’), Abhishek (17’), Mandeep Singh (18’, 27’, 28’) Amit Rohidas (38’), Sukhjeet (42’), Shamsher Singh (43’) and Sanjay (57’) scored in the commanding win.

In table tennis, the Indian men’s team sealed their place in the quarterfinals of the team event after clinching victory in a nail-biting contest against Kazakhstan.

India had a disappointing result in volleyball, as men’s volleyball journey came to an end after they were defeated by Japan in the quarter-finals on Sunday at the Asian Games in China’s Hangzhou.

Japan won the tie by winning straight three games by 25-16, 25-18 and 25-17 to secure their spot in the semi-finals.

The women’s table tennis team was knocked out of the ongoing 19th Asian Games after suffering a defeat against 2-3 Thailand in their Round of 16 clash on Sunday.

Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal started his Asian Games men’s singles campaign in style as he defeated Macao China’s Ho Tin Marco 6-0, 6-0 in straight sets.

In men’s doubles duo Saketh Myneni and Ramanathan Ramkumar progressed to pre-quarter-finals at the Asian Games after registering a dominating straight-set win over Nepal’s Bastola Abhishek and Khadka Pradip on Sunday. Saketh-Ramanathan defeated Nepal by 6-2, 6-3 in just 57 minutes.

In sailing, the Indian contingent continued to deliver some solid performances on day six of the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou, keeping the country’s hopes for qualification to knockout/medal races alive.

In the men’s skiff competition, the pair of KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar ended the day with 34 race points in 10 races. This includes top spot finishes in race seven and nine with one race point each.

In the women’s skiff event, the Indian pair of Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma is at fourth place out of six with 32 race points in 10 races. This includes a top-spot finish in the seventh race with a race point.

In the men’s windsurfer event, India’s Eabad Ali finished the day in fourth spot out of six with 43 race points in 10 races. This includes a second-place finish in the sixth race with two race points.

The sailing events will conclude on September 27 with medal/knockout races.

The Indian women’s football team bowed out of the ongoing Asian Games following a 0-1 loss to Thailand in their Group B match on Sunday. Parichat Thongrong (52’) scored the solitary, but the winning goal for Thailand.

In the women’s chess round, Humpy clinched a 1-0 win against Iran’s Alinasabalamdari Mobina. Meanwhile, Harika has beaten United Arab Emirates’ Alali Rouda also by 1-0.

In round two of the men’s individual chess, Santosh will meet Kazakhistan’s Nogerbek Kazbek, and Arjun will play against Vietnam’s Le Tuan Minh. Meanwhile, the women’s schedule is still not out.

In fencing, Taniksha Khatri crashed out of the Women’s Epee Individual event at the Asian Games as she failed to win against World No. 2 Hong Kong’s Man Wai Vivian. She lost the game by 7-15 on Sunday in Hangzhou.

Indian athlete Mayank Chaphekar’s landmark Asian Games 2023 campaign ended in the semi-finals of the men’s individual modern pentathlon event in Hangzhou on Sunday. He failed to make it to the final after finishing 13th in the semi-finals with a total of 1,005 points.

India had a great day in boxing. Preeti advanced to the quarterfinals after winning in the Round of 16 of the Women’s 50-54kg boxing while Reigning World Champion Nikhat Zareen entered into the Round of 16 with a 5-0 win over World Championship 2023 Silver medallist Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Tam in the women’s 50kg category.

Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj missed a chance to win a medal in the men’s 100-metre backstroke at the 19th Asian Games. He finished sixth in the final.

The Indian rugby sevens team had a disappointing start to their campaign as heavy losses to Hong Kong and Japan put the women’s side put them out of medal contention at the ongoing Asian Games.

The Indian men’s football team has stormed into the Round of 16 with a 1-1 draw against Myanmar at the Asian Games on Sunday. India finished second in Group A with one win, one loss and one draw. India have four points from three games.

India’s Charanjot Singh and Karman Tikka bowed out from the Asian Games after suffering a hard-fought defeat in the EA Sports FC Online on the opening day on Sunday.

The Indian women’s 4×100 m freestyle relay team consisting of Dhinidhi Desinghu, Maana Patel, Janhvi Choudhary, Shivangi Sarma secured seventh place finish in the final of their discipline at the ongoing Asian Games at Hangzhou on Sunday.

Indian men’s chess player Vidit Gujarathi faced defeat, Arjun Kumar Ereigais played out a tie while women’s chess players Harika Dronavalli and Koneru Humpy won their games in the second round of men’s and women’s individual competition.

In Wushu, Mayanglambam Suraj Singh and Anjul Namedo finished fifth and sixth respectively in the Men’s Changquan final.