India became champions on Tuesday with a resounding victory in the women’s T20 cricket at the Asian Games. It is noteworthy that India, who entered the field as the defending champions, retained the gold.
Exactly 10 days ago, the Indian women’s team had defeated Sri Lanka to become champions in the Women’s Asia Cup T20 tournament, and now it has defeated the same team again to win gold and assert its dominance on the Asian continent.
Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian women’s team has won India’s first gold medal at the current Asian Games, and in doing so has entered the ‘top 10’ in the medal tally.
Cricket
India defeated Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final of the women’s T20 cricket match. Batting first, India scored 213 for 3 in 20 overs, while Sri Lanka were bowled out for just 69 in 15.4 overs, losing all 10 wickets.
Earlier, after winning the toss and batting first, the Indian team saw Shafali Verma score 48 with 3 fours and 3 sixes, Smriti Mandhana make 79 with 5 fours and 7 sixes, and captain Harmanpreet Kaur add 19 before getting out.
At the end of the innings, Richa Ghosh remained unbeaten on 49 with 6 fours and 3 sixes, while Bhati Fulmali was unbeaten on 7. Among Sri Lanka’s bowlers, Sugandika Kumari, Kavisha Dilhari, and Samudi Prabodha took one wicket each.
In Sri Lanka’s innings while chasing 217 runs, captain Chamari Athapaththu top-scored with 29 runs, including 5 boundaries.
Kavisha Dilhari was dismissed for 11 and Kausini Nuthyangana for 14, while the other batters were out for single-digit scores or ducks. For India, Deepti Sharma took 3 wickets, and Shafali Verma, Shreyanka Patil, and Sree Charani took 2 wickets each.
It is noteworthy that in the 2022 Asian Games as well, India became champions by defeating Sri Lanka.
Bronze for Pakistan: In the match for the bronze medal, Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 31 runs.
Biggest victory...
In women’s T20 cricket, this was India’s biggest victory in terms of runs difference.
Previously, India’s largest win had been by 142 runs against Malaysia during the 2018 Asia Cup. Now, India has reached a new high by winning by 147 runs.
Wushu
In the women’s 60 kg quarterfinals, India’s Roshibina Devi Naorem defeated Macau’s Su Man Chai on points difference (WPD) to advance to the semifinals. With this, she has secured a medal. She has previously won silver and bronze at the Asian Games.
In the women’s nanquan & nandao division final round, India’s Hanjabam Langlentombi Devi finished 9th with 9.403 points. In the men’s 56 kg sanda division quarterfinals, Aryan lost 1-2 to Uzbekistan’s Saidulla Aburashtidov.
Soft Tennis
In the men’s singles category, in the group stage, Jai Meena defeated Pakistan’s Areein Hussain 4-0 to advance to the quarterfinals. There, he will face Sherwin Nuguit of the Philippines.
Aaryan Thakur first defeated Mongolia’s Altankhurel Bold 4-0. However, in the next match, he lost 0-4 to Chen Po-Yi of Chinese Taipei. In the women’s singles, Adhya Tiwari first lost 1-4 to Thailand’s Alisha Jikler, but in the next match she defeated Pakistan’s Qainat Shalwani 4-0.
Boxing
In the women’s 51 kg category, Sakshi Chaudhary defeated Paris Olympics bronze medalist Aira Villegas of the Philippines 5-0 to advance to the pre-quarterfinals. In the men’s 55 kg category, Jadumani Singh defeated Nepal’s Chandrabahadur Thapa 5-0.
Badminton
In the men’s team quarterfinals, India defeated Japan 3-0 to advance to the semifinals and secure a medal. Lakshya Sen beat two-time world champion Kodai Naraoka 11-21, 21-5, 21-19. The pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty defeated former world champions Hoki Takuro/Kobayashi Yugo 21-18, 24-22.
In another singles match, Ayush Shetty defeated Koki Watanabe 21-10, 21-19.
Meanwhile, the Indian women’s team was knocked out of the tournament after losing 1-3 to Japan in the quarterfinals. P.V. Sindhu lost to Akane Yamaguchi in games of 23-21, 18-21, 11-21, while Unnati Hooda went down to Tomoka Miyazaki 16-21, 18-21.
In the doubles category, the pair of Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand defeated the duo of Yuki Fukushima/Mayu Matsumoto 21-17, 21-16 to secure a consolation win, while Tanvi Sharma lost to Nozomi Okuhara 12-21, 10-21.
Table Tennis
In the women’s team event, India defeated Thailand 3-2 to advance to the quarterfinals. Sreeja Akula lost 2-3 to Aravane Paranang, while Yashaswini Ghorpade beat Sudasini Sawitapat 3-2.
Diya Chitale was defeated 2-3 by Jinipa Sawitapat.
Yashaswini Ghorpade beat Aravane Paranang 3-0, while Sreeja defeated Sudasini Sawitapat 3-1.
Meanwhile, the men’s team lost 0-3 to South Korea and was eliminated from the competition. Harmeet Desai lost 1-3 to Jang Woo-jin, while Manush Shah was defeated 2-3 by Oh Junsung. Manav Thakkar lost to An Jae-hyun in straight sets, 1-3.
Gymnastics
India’s Pranati Nayak advanced to the final round in the women’s vault event. In the qualification round, she finished 7th with 12.916 points. It is noteworthy that she is the only Indian competing in artistic gymnastics at the event.
Shooting
After India had won medals in shooting for two consecutive days in the competition, Indians were left disappointed on Tuesday. In the 10m air rifle mixed team final, the Indian team comprising Elavenil Valarivan and Paarth Mane finished 4th with 376.3 points, missing out on a medal. China (507.1) won gold with a world record, while South Korea (502.9) and Japan (439.7) won silver and bronze respectively.
Karate
In the men’s kumite 84 kg semifinal, India’s Chetan Pat lost 0-8 to Jordan’s Mohamed Aljafari. Following this, he advanced to the bronze medal round, where his match against Meng Yu Sang of Chinese Taipei ended in a 1-1 tie. As per the competition rules, Sang, who scored the first points, was declared the winner.
In the women’s kumite 55 kg category, Alisha lost 1-6 to Indonesia’s Gak Istri Sanistiarani in the pre-quarterfinal round.
Fencing
In the women’s individual epee quarterfinals, India’s Taniksha Khatri lost 9-15 to world champion Sang Se-ra of South Korea. In the previous round, she had defeated Thailand’s Natthapat Sangyo by 15-10. Another Indian in the field, Mithwa Chaudhary, lost in the first round itself 14-15 to China’s Yang Jingwen.
In the men’s individual foil event, Sachin lost 9-15 to Kazakhstan’s Timofey Semenov, and Hemash Singh Sanasam lost 9-15 to Kazakhstan’s Kalim Nurumov.
Kabaddi
The men’s kabaddi team defeated South Korea 63-31 in its second group-stage match. Indian players won 38 points through successful raids. In the next match, India will face Bangladesh on Wednesday. On the same day, the women’s team takes on Iran.
Sepaktakraw
In the men’s teams’ regu category, India lost to Malaysia 0-3. After losing to Japan in their opening match as well, the Indian team faces the Philippines in the final match of the group stage.
Swimming
In the final of the men’s 4x100m medley relay event, the Indian team comprising Utkarsh Patil, Dhanush Suresh, Rohit Benedicton, and Aakash Mani finished the race in 3 minutes 44.26 seconds and ultimately secured only 8th place. It is noteworthy that the same team had finished the heats in 3.40 minutes.
In the men’s 1,500m freestyle Final ‘B’, Aryan Nehra finished 4th in 15 minutes 34.71 seconds.