India are poised to celebrate a century of medals at the Asian Games after wrestlers bagged three medals, the sport of sepaktakraw added a bronze and the men’s hockey team reclaimed the gold to take the country’s tally to 95 here on Friday.
India are already assured of six medals in different disciplines — kabaddi (2), archery (3), hockey (1), badminton (1) and cricket (1) and once the competition ends in these events, the country will cross the coveted 100-medal mark for the first time ever on Saturday.
At least four more wrestlers are in contention on the penultimate day of the competition and it won’t be a surprise if more medals are added to the tally.
India had won 70 medals in the last edition in Indonesia where the country’s athletes won 16 gold, 23 silver and 31 bronze medals to record their best-ever performance.
Archers bag 2
A 13-year wait ended in archery when the Indian men’s and women’s teams surpassed expectations to clinch a silver and bronze respectively, their first medals since 2010.
Battling injuries, the recurve team of Ankita Bhakat, Simranjeet Kaur and Bhajan Kaur clinched a bronze medal in the morning session.
The fifth-seeded women’s trio dropped just one set to down their Vietnamese rivals 6-2 and secure their first-ever Asian Games medal in the Olympic-discipline category since Guangzhou 2010.
The women’s team’s splendid show then rubbed off on their male counterparts as the triumvirate of Atanu Das, Tushar Shelke, and Dhiraj Bommadevara returned with a silver medal.
They defeated Bangladesh’s Sagor Islam, Hakim Rubel and Ruman Shana 5-3 in a lopsided semi-final.
But up against heavyweights South Korea in the gold medal clash, the Indian trio faltered 5-1.
The last time India had won a medal in the recurve category was 13 years ago when they bagged an individual silver and team bronze medals in men’s and women’s events.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam has also advanced into the women’s compound individual final.
Bajrang falters
Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia stormed out of the wrestling arena after a humiliating defeat in the 65kg free-style third-place match here on Friday.
His hurried exit was in stark contrast to the other three Asian Games bronze-winning Indian grapplers who showed some contentment if not pure excitement.
Aman Sehrawat (57kg), Sonam Malik (65kg) and Kiran (76kg) clinched a bronze medal each.
First-ever medal
India clinched their first-ever medal in women’s sepaktakraw with the regu team winning a bronze after losing to powerhouse Thailand in the semi-finals here on Friday.
The women’s team of Ayekpam Maipak Devi, Oinam Chaoba Devi, Khushbu, Elangbam Priya Devi and Elangbam Leirentombi Devi lost 10-21, 13-21 in the semi-finals.
Men, women advance
The India men’s kabaddi team thrashed Pakistan 61-14 to take their place in the final. The women too stormed into their fourth successive games final with a 61-17 win over Nepal.
In chess, the India men and women’s teams posted convincing wins of the chess team competition. Both teams are in second spot with a round to play.
