The Indian contingent had a joyous outing on Day 4 of the 2023 Asian Games, adding eight medals to their tally. Shooters shone the brightest today, winning seven of those medals, whilst the other medal came in sailing.
The day started with a silver medal in women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions team event, courtesy of the trio of Sift Kaur Samra, Ashi Chouksey and Manini Kaushik. Another trio – comprising Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan and Esha Singh – then added a gold medal to India’s tally by finishing first in women’s 25m Air Pistol team event.
Sift and Ashi from the 50m Rifle 3 Positions team then returned to win a gold and a bronze medal respectively in the individual event, with the former, who also happens to be a student of medicine, creating a new world record.
Meanwhile, from the 25m Air Pistol team, Esha Singh clinched a silver medal in the individual event. From the men’s shooting contingent, Gurjoat Siingh Khangura, Anant Jeet Singh Naruka and Angad Vir Singh Bajwa secured a bronze medal in Team Skeet, with Anant Jeet following it up with a silver medal in the individual event – narrowly finishing second to Kuwait’s 60-year-old Abdullah Al-Rashidi, who scored 60/60.
At the conclusion of Day 4, India are seventh on the medals tally with 22 medals – five gold, seven silver and ten bronze.
Here’s everything that happened today, across every event:
3x3 Basketball
The Indian men’s team defeated Macao by a 21-12 margin, continuing their winning run. The women’s team, however, were handed an 8-22 defeat by China.
5x5 Basketball
India started their campaign on the perfect note, securing a 66-46 triumph over Indonesia.
Boxing
It was a mixed day in boxing today for the Indian contingent. Six-time Asian Championships medallist, Shiva Thapa was defeated by Kyrgyzstan’s Askat Kultaev in the Round of 16 of men’s 57-63.5kg category. Meanwhile, Asian Championships’ gold medallist Sanjeet lost his men’s 80-92kg Round of 16 bout to Uzbekistan’s Lazizbek Mullojonov.
However, the day ended on a satisfying note, as world champion Nikhat Zareen qualified for the quarter-final of women’s 45-50kg category, beating South Korea’s Chorong Bak 5-0 in her Round of 16 tie.
Bridge
At the end of Round 3, the women’s team are placed in the seventh position, while the mixed team are occupying the fifth position after four rounds. The best performance so far has come from the men’s team, who are placed second after Round 4.
Chess
In men’s individual, Vidit Gujarathi had an opportunity to secure a bronze medal, but a defeat in the final round meant he finished fifth. Arjun Erigaisi finished a place below his Indian compatriot.
In women’s individual, Harika Dronavalli produced a remarkable performance to beat the gold medallist in the last round, but it was too little too late for her. She finished fourth, while Koneru Humpy finished on seventh place.
Cycling
David Beckham Elkatohchoongo qualified for the quarter-final of men’s sprint, by finishing first in the 1/8 finals repechage – beating the Kazakh pair of Sergey Ponomaryov and Andrey Chugay. In men’s team pursuit, India finished in the sixth position.
Equestrian
In individual dressage, Hriday Vipul Chedda finished first in Intermediate I, with Anush Agarwalla and Divyakriti Singh finishing 4th and 11th respectively. Sudipti Hajela, although, was eliminated.
Fencing
The men’s foil team suffered a Round of 16 defeat, losing out 30-45 against Singapore. The women’s epee team defeated Jordan 45-36 in their first bout of the day, but then was handed a 25-45 defeat by South Korea in the quarter-final.
Handball
In women’s competition, the Indian team played out a 26-26 draw against Hong Kong in their second group stage game.
Hockey
The Indian women’s hockey team started their campaign with aplomb, beating Singapore comfortably by a 13-0 margin.
Sailing
Owing to the lack of adequate wind to provide racing conditions, all sailing events were cancelled. Based on overall points accumulated so far, Vishnu Saravanan won the bronze medal in Men’s Dinghy – ILCA7, while Nethra Kumanan finished fourth in Women’s Dinghy –ILCA6.
Squash
The men’s team started their day with a 3-0 triumph over Kuwait, but were then handed a 1-2 defeat by Pakistan. On the contrary, the women’s team was flawless, beating both Nepal and Macao by 3-0 margins.
Swimming
None of India’s swimmers who were in action today could manage to qualify for the final round of their respective events.
Table Tennis
The men’s doubles pair of Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar qualified for the Round of 32, while Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra advanced to the Round of 16 of mixed doubles. Along similar lines, Harmeet Desai-Sreeja Akula’s pair was also able to make it to the mixed doubles Round of 16.
Taekwondo
Shivansh Tyagi qualified for the Round of 16 in men’s -80kg category by beating Cambodia’s Mithona Va, before losing out to Woohyeok Park of South Korea. Margerette Maria Regi’s campaign ended in the Round of 16 of women’s -67kg category.
Tennis
Sumit Nagal was defeated by China’s Zhizhen Zhang in the quarter-final of men’s singles, while in women’s singles’ quarter-finals, Ankita Raina lost out against Japan’s Haruka Kaji.
In men’s doubles, Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan qualified for the semi-final.
In mixed doubles, Yuki Bhambri and Ankita Raina were eliminated, while Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosle made it to the next round.
Wushu
Roshibina Devi Naorem assured at least a silver medal by winning her semi-final match in women’s 60kg category against Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy. She will compete for a gold medal tomorrow.
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