In the ongoing Asian Games, India won its first gold medal in athletics, with the Indian team comprising Kiran Pahal, Poovamma Machethira, Prachi, and Vidya Ramraj winning the women’s 4*400 relay race.
In shooting, Neeru Dhanda created history by becoming the first Indian woman athlete to win a gold medal in the women’s trap individual event. She also helped the women’s team win silver in the same event.
In athletics, Gulveer Singh clinched his ‘hat-trick’ medal, while Pooja Singh won bronze in the high jump. India also won bronze in the mixed relay and men’s relay. India’s medal tally crossed 50.
Athletics
Gold
In the 4*400 m relay - the Indian team comprising Kiran Pahal, Poovamma Machettira, Prachi, and Vidya Ramraj won first place in the women’s 4*400 meter relay race with a time of 3 minutes 29.69 seconds. Bahrain won silver (3:30.21), and China won bronze (3:31.02).
Vidya Ramraj of Tamil Nadu, who was part of this team, became a three-medal winner at the current Asian Games, with gold, silver, and bronze. She had already been part of the team that won silver in the 4*400 m mixed relay event, and she also won bronze in the 400 m hurdles.
Bronze
4*100m mixed relay - The team comprising Gurindarveer Singh, Animesh Kujur, Sneha Satyanarayana, and Harita Badra finished the race in 41.60 seconds to win bronze. This was the Indian team’s season-best time. China won gold (40.78), and Thailand won silver (40.87).
High jump - In the women’s high jump, Pooja Singh cleared 1.84 meters to win the bronze medal. Another Indian in the field, Supriya Basavaraju, finished only 12th (1.75). Uzbekistan’s Barnokhon Seyfullayeva won gold (1.90), and Kazakhstan’s Kristina Ovchinnikova won silver (1.87).
In the men’s 5,000m race, Gulveer Singh finished in 13 minutes, 32.75 seconds to win the bronze medal. Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew won gold (13:30.79), and Japan’s Tomonori Yamaguchi won silver (13:31.43).
This is Gulveer’s third medal at the current Asian Games. He had already won silver in the men’s 10,000m and 1,500m events.
Gulveer became the fourth Indian to win three athletics medals in a single Asian Games. The first three were Leavy Pinto (1951), P.T. Usha (1968 - 4 medals), and K.M. Beenamol (2002).
In the men’s 4*400 m relay, the Indian team comprising Dharamveer Chaudhary, Manu Tekinal, Jai Kumar, and Vishal Tennarasu won the bronze medal with a time of 3 minutes, 1.61 seconds.
In the women’s hammer throw, Tanya Chaudhary finished 4th with a throw of 65.35 meters. Anushka Yadav took 5th place with 64.56 meters.
In the pole vault, Indian athlete Devkumar Meena cleared 5.50 meters to finish 7th with a national record. In the 800 m race, Mohammed Afzal in the men’s category and Pooja Ola in the women’s category finished 8th and 7th respectively.
Shooting
Gold - In the women’s individual trap final, Neeru Dhanda clinched gold with an Asian record by scoring 28 points.
China’s Yuno Sun won silver (26), and Kuwait’s Hajar Abdulmalik won bronze (21).
Despite rain during the final making it difficult to aim at the flying clay targets, Neeru Dhanda accurately shot down her targets. The gold she won is India’s first gold in the individual event in shooting at the ongoing Asian Games.
3rd gold: This is India’s 3rd gold in the Asian Games trap individual event. Before this, Randhir Singh (1978) and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (2010) had won gold in the men’s individual event. Now, Neeru Dhanda has made history by becoming the first woman athlete to win gold.
Until 10 days before the Asian Games, Neeru Dhanda had been suffering from a severe fever. When there were doubts about whether she would even take part in the competition, she recovered from it and has now won the gold in spectacular fashion.
Silver - In the women’s trap team event, the Indian team comprising Neeru Dhanda, Aashima Ahlawat, and Manisha Keer won the silver medal with 328 points. China won gold (346), and Kuwait took bronze (325).
Meanwhile, in the final of the men’s trap individual event, Sabhat Bharadwaj finished last in 8th place with 7 points. In the men’s trap team event, the Indian team comprising Sabhat Bharadwaj, Kinan Senai, and Avar Rizvi finished only 6th with 339 points.
Boxing
In the men’s 80 kg semifinal, Angush Pangal defeated Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Erkinboev 4-1. By defeating Erkinboev, the reigning world champion in the 75 kg category, Angush became the first Indian boxer in the past 8 years to advance to the final at the Asian Games.
In the women’s 65 kg category, Parveen Hooda defeated China’s Li Shuwei 5-0 to advance to the final. Parveen became the third Indian woman boxer to reach the final at the Asian Games. Mary Kom and Lovlina Borgohain were the first two.
Narender wins bronze: In the men’s +90 kg semifinal, Narendar Perwal lost 0-5 to Kazakhstan’s Aibek Oralbay, the reigning super heavyweight champion. He exits with a bronze medal, earning his second medal at the Asian Games.
Volleyball
The Indian men’s team advanced to the quarterfinals. India defeated Qatar 3-2 (26-28, 25-27, 25-23, 25-20, 24-22) in its final group-stage match, securing a place in the quarterfinals with its third win. The quarterfinal matches will be held on Thursday (Oct. 1).
Cycling
Three Indian teams were eliminated after missing out on a chance to compete for medals. In the women’s sprint heats, the team comprising Celestina, Sarita Kumari, Keerthi Rangsamy, and Triyasha Paul finished second in 50.431 seconds.
In the men’s sprint heats, the team comprising Rojit Singh, David Beckham, Ronaldo Singh, and Gemsh Singh was eliminated after finishing second in 44.374 seconds.
In the women’s pursuit heats, the team comprising Harshitha Jagar, Pooja Tanol, Meenakshi, and Swasthi Singh reached the finish in 4 minutes, 45.151 seconds and finished only fifth.
Rowing
Indian athletes advanced to the semifinals in both the men’s and women’s categories. In the men’s kayak individual heats, Hitesh Kevat finished 8th in 118.22 seconds, and Pratyumna Singh Rathod finished 10th in 127.70 seconds.
In the women’s canoe individual heats, Pallavi Jagatap finished 7th in 224.20 seconds, and Reena Sen finished 9th in 342.72 seconds.
The semifinals, in which all four will compete, will be held on Wednesday, and the medal rounds will also take place that day.
Tennis
In the men’s singles category, India’s Dakshineshwar Suresh and Sumit Nagal advanced to the pre-quarterfinal round.
Both received a first-round bye, and in the second round, Dakshineswar Suresh defeated Indonesia’s Gunawan Trismuwantara 7-5, 7-6 (7/2). Sumit Nagal’s second-round match was affected by rain on Monday and continued on Tuesday, in which Nagal beat South Korea’s Seongchan Hong 6-4, 6-0 in straight sets.
Archery
Dheeraj Bommadevara, Neeraj Chauhan, and Kumkum Mohoth qualified for the recurve individual quarterfinals. In the previous round, in the men’s section, Neeraj beat South Korea’s Kim Jae-deok 6-4, while Dheeraj defeated Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Sian Huy 6-2.
In the women’s category, Kumkum Mohoth defeated Bangladesh’s Shaima Salwa 6-0. However, Keerthi lost 3-7 to South Korea’s Kang Se-yang.