Star India fencer Bhavani Devi’s impressive run at the Asian Games came to an end in the quarter-finals, as she suffered a 7-15 loss to local favourite Yaqi Shao in the women’s sabre individual category here on Tuesday.
One win shy of a maiden Asian Games medal, Bhavani Devi managed three touches in the first period of the quarter finals.
But her Chinese opponent was superior as she took an 8-3 lead and needed just seven more touches to qualify for her successive semi-final. Bhavani managed four more touches in the second period but that proved to be insufficient.
National record
The Indian men’s 4x100m medley relay team bettered the national record for the second time in the day but it was not enough to grab a medal as it finished fifth.
The quartet of Srihari Nataraj, Likhith Selvaraj, Sajan Prakash and Tanish George Mathew bettered the 3:40.84 timing set earlier in heat 1 in the day, clocking 3:40.20 in the final.
China won the gold with an Asian record timing of 3:27.01.
Narrow miss
India’s Divyansh Panwar and Ramita Jindal squandered a big lead to lose to Korea
in a bronze-medal match of the 10m air rifle mixed team event.
Divyansh and Ramita were leading 8-0 but the Korean pair of Park Hajun and Lee Eunseo made a remarkable comeback to win the match 20-18.
Ramita had four shots of 10.8 while Divyansh had one. Divyansh also had two bad shots of 9.9 and 9.8.
Vidit shares 2nd spot
Third-seeded Indian GrM Vidit Gujrathi went down to top-ranked Chinese player Wei Yi in the seventh round of the men’s individual chess event.
Despite the defeat, the Indian is in joint second place with 5 points from 7 rounds, half-a-point behind Yi.
Arjun Erigaisi beat Indonesia’s Novendra Priasmoro in the seventh round to reach 4.5 points. He shares the third spot with three other players.
Good beginning
The Indian squash contingent began its campaign with comfortable victories in the men’s and women’s team competitions.
The women’s team comprising 15-year-old Anahat Singh, Joshna Chinappa and Tanvi Khanna blanked Pakistan 3-0 in its opening match, while the men’s side defeated Singapore and Qatar with identical 3-0 margins.
PTI
