NEW DELHI: Mirabai Chanu finally ended her long wait for an Asian Games medal, winning silver in the women’s 49kg category on Wednesday.The 32-year-old lifted a total of 198kg (88kg+111kg) to finish second. The medal was India’s first Asian Games weightlifting medal since Karnam Malleswari won silver in 1998.Mirabai had been chasing an Asian Games medal since 2014. The Tokyo Olympic silver medallist once again showed her class on the big stage and added another major medal to her career.With a familiar grin on her face, she made light work of the heavy lifts before declaring that her “life is now complete.”
Skeet shooters save the day for India
It was a mixed day for India at the shooting range.The much-anticipated women’s 10m air pistol team of double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, Suruchi Singh and Esha Singh could not win a medal in either the team or individual events.Bhaker was the only Indian from the trio to qualify for the individual final, but she finished fifth.The 24-year-old Paris Olympics bronze medallist later broke down while speaking about the emotional impact of the death of her childhood coach Jaspal Rana in June.The skeet shooters, however, ensured India did not leave the shooting range empty-handed.The men’s and women’s teams both won bronze medals.Raiza Dhillon, Maheshwari Chauhan and Parinaaz Dhaliwal combined for a score of 331 to finish third in the women’s team event. China won gold with 357 points, while Kazakhstan took silver with 336.Raiza and Parinaaz also reached the individual finals but could not finish on the podium.In the men’s event, Anantjeet Singh Naruka, veteran Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill secured bronze with a combined score of 346.Anantjeet was the only Indian from the trio to reach the individual final and finished fourth.
Wushu: Roshibina enters gold medal clash
Roshibina Devi Naorem moved into the gold medal match in the women’s 60kg category after defeating Indonesia’s Thania Kusumaningtyas 2-0 at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall.She will face China’s Xiaoyu Zhang in the final.Roshibina, 25, has already won a silver and a bronze medal in the previous two editions of the Asian Games.
Badminton stars humbled by China
India’s men’s badminton team ended its campaign with a bronze medal after losing 1-3 to China in the semifinals.Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty could not get past their higher-ranked opponents, while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were the only Indians to win a match.India had won silver at the previous edition in Hangzhou in 2023, where China had also beaten them in the final.World No. 14 Lakshya, who had played a key role in India’s run to the semifinals, lost 16-21, 18-21 to world No. 6 Shi Yu Qi in the opening singles match.India fell 0-1 behind, but Satwik and Chirag brought the team back into the contest.The Indian pair produced a strong performance to beat Paris Olympics silver medallists and reigning world champions Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20.However, Ayush Shetty and the second doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun could not win their matches as China sealed the tie.
Table tennis, squash players move ahead
Indian pairs Harmeet Desai-Yashaswini Ghorpade and Diya Chitale-Manush Shah advanced to the table tennis mixed doubles quarterfinals.The seventh-seeded Chitale and Shah made easy progress with a 3-0 win over the Sri Lanka-Maldives combination.In the round of 16, Shah and Chitale defeated Moosa Ahmed and Aishath Nazeem 11-0, 11-7, 11-6.They will face Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kim and Wong Chun Ting in the quarterfinals on Thursday. A win will assure them of a medal.In squash, Abhay Singh, Veer Chotrani and Tanvi Khanna entered the round of 16 with comfortable victories.Second seed Abhay dropped only three points in his opening men’s singles match against Thailand’s Arkaradet Arkarahirunya, winning 11-1, 11-0, 11-2.Chotrani beat Sri Lanka’s Shamil Wakeel 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 in the round of 32.In the women’s singles, Tanvi defeated South Korea’s Dami Kim 11-5, 11-7, 11-5.
Women’s hockey team continues winning run
India’s women’s hockey team registered its third straight win in Pool B, thrashing Thailand 20-1.Drag-flicker Deepika Sehrawat was the star of the show, scoring a record nine goals in one match.Deepika scored in the 2nd, 8th, 9th, 24th, 33rd, 36th, 39th, 51st and 57th minutes. She converted all nine of her penalty-corner attempts.Navneet Kaur also scored four goals in the 4th, 29th, 35th and 51st minutes.India also continued its strong run in kabaddi, with both the men’s and women’s teams registering comprehensive wins over Bangladesh and Iran respectively in their group-stage matches.
