Asian Games 2023: India win gold in archery and squash team events; Saurav Ghoshal collects silver
Asian Games 2023: India win gold in archery and squash team events; Saurav Ghoshal collects silver
India inched closer to the 100-medal mark after winning three gold along with a silver and bronze on Thursday at the Asian Games.
India completed a double in the men’s and women’s compound archery team events and also had a similar result in the squash mixed team event.
India nearly made it four gold medals on the 12th day of competitions, with the veteran Saurav Ghoshal falling narrowly short in the squash men’s singles event.
India’s final medal of the day came in wrestling, where rising star Antim Panghal clinched bronze in her maiden appearance in the continental event.
India remained at the fourth spot on the Asian Games points table at the conclusion of events on Thursday, stretching their medal count to 86 — 21 gold, 32 silver and 33 bronze — surging ahead of Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei though they still are a long way off from China, Japan and South Korea.
Here’s a recap of the medals won and other key highlights from the day:
Indian archers strike gold
India women’s compound archery team of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Gopichand and Parneet Kaur bagged India’s 19th gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Thursday. India beat Chinese Taipei 230-229 in the final that was ultimately decided in the last three arrows.
The top-seeded reigning world champion trio of Jyothi, Aditi and Parneet shot 60 out of 60 in a perfect final end to overcome their third-seeded rivals in the last three arrows and seal the country’s fifth medal in archery and second gold medal in the sport.
India’s previous gold medal in archery had come in compound mixed team event courtesy Jyothi and Ojas Deotale.
India would also clinched the yellow metal in the men’s compound team final with the trio of Deotale, Abhishek Verma and Prathamesh Jawkar defeated South Korea’s Jaehoon Joo, Jaewon Yang and Jongho Kim 235-230 to ensure India collected a third gold in archery in Hangzhou.
Dipika-Harinder win gold, Ghoshal collects silver
Veterans Dipika Pallikal and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu survived some anxious moments to clinch the mixed doubles gold, but Saurav Ghosal settled for singles silver on Thursday as Indian squash players recorded their best-ever performance at the Asian Games.
Dipika and Harinder eked out a 11-10 11-10 win over Malaysian duo of Aifa Binti Azman and Mohammad Syafiq Bin Mohd Kamal in a tense 35 minute final to fetch India’s second gold medal in squash at the ongoing event.
“I don’t always remember what happens on court. It’s a blur for both of us. We only remember the last point. We are more than happy. We are very proud of the fact we are here and won gold,” Dipika said after the win.
“Myself and Harinder have worked really, really hard to be here at this moment, to be part of this team and to win the gold. We are very humbled to be in this position that we are right now,” she said.
However, it was disappointment for India’s top player Ghosal as he lost to Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng 11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 7-11 in a little over an hour.
Ghosal, who did not drop a game in this Games till the final, started the match trailing the Malaysian who built an 8-6 lead.
However, Ghosal played some fine forehands to make it 8-8 and eventually won the game.
But the Malaysian turned the table in the second game winning it 11-9, and it seemed to have affected the concentration of Ghosal.
In the third and fourth games, Ghosal hardly produced any fight and his backhand completely deserted him, with the Indian making a slew of errors.
Ghosal also found himself out of position several times in these two games, and lost points through obstruction.
Ghosal said his opponent was simply better on the day.
“I think I played pretty alright for the most part. In the second game a few things didn’t go my way. Credit to Yow, as he played really well. He imposed his game better for the most part.
“I didn’t play well, but I can be really proud of the effort I put in,” said the Indian after the match.
Antim wins bronze
Teen sensation Antim Panghal humbled Tokyo Olympics medallist Bolortuya Bat-Ochir 3-1 to win a bronze medal but other Indian wrestlers struggled badly at the Asian Games here on Thursday.
The 19-year-old Antim bounced back after losing to two-time Japanese world champion Akari Fujinami in the quarterfinals in a superb manner as she did not let the Mongolian attack much in the women’s 53kg bronze play-off.
Antim saved the day for the Indian contingent which badly needed a medal after Narinder Cheema (Greco-Roman 97kg), Naveen (Greco Roman 130kg) and Pooja Gehlot (women’s 50kg) were ousted.
Pooja was outplayed 2-9 in the bronze medal bout by Aktenge Keunimjaeva, the Asian championship bronze winner.
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