Dutee Chamd of India celebrates after the women’s 100m final of athletics at the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia on Aug. 26, 2018. 

Indian athletes Dutee Chand and Hima Das qualified for the women’s 200 metres semi-finals at the 18th Asian Games here on Tuesday.

Dutee won Heat 4 with a time of 23.37 seconds which earned her a direct spot in the semi-finals.

She was second in the overall standings at the end of the first round, behind Nigina Sharipova of Uzbekistan, who won Heat 3 with a personal best time of 23.31.

Hima clocked 23.47 to finish fourth in Heat 2, just 200th of a second short of a direct semis berth as Marie Knot of the Philippines took the third spot with 23.45.

But the sprinter from Assam earned a berth the semi-finals as one of the fastest losers in the heats as she was seventh in the overall standings.

(Ians)

The Indian men’s table tennis team had to be content with the bronze medal following a 3-0 loss to South Korea in the semi-finals of the 18th Asian Games here on Tuesday.

This is the first ever table tennis medal for India in Asian Games.

G. Sathiyan, Achanta Sharath Kamal and Anthony Amalraj went down fighting in their respective matches.

The South Koreans took the lead when Sathiyan lost 11-9, 9-11, 3-11, 3-11 to Lee Sangsu in the opening match. Kamal gave a tough fight to Jeoung Sik before going down 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 8-11 while Amalraj lost 5-11, 7-11, 11-4, 7-11 to Jang Woojin.

(Ians)

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday issued an appeal to identify the one remaining suspected match-fixer in a recent documentary.

The appeal is part of an extensive investigation by the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) to track down the alleged fixer, known as Aneel Munawar. The programme makers have indicated that this man will now be central to a second documentary.

“We have identified every other person in the original documentary and have spoken to a number of them in connection with match fixing, including those who are not deemed to be participants under our Anti-Corruption Code. However the true identity of Aneel Munawar remains a mystery. He plays a significant role in the programme, yet enquiries with law enforcement and immigration sources have not identified or located him.

“As such we are appealing to the public or anyone from within the cricket family to contact us with any information that will lead us to identify and locate him. Police investigations often use such an appeal to locate people of interest and we are exercising the same approach,” ICC ACU General Manager Alex Marshall said.

“The absence of any cooperation from the broadcaster has slowed the investigation, but to date we have made good progress in identifying people of significant interest including people already of interest to the ACU. We have been able to discount a number of claims made in the programme and continue to pursue other aspects. We will provide a full update at the conclusion of the investigation.

“We are aware that there is a second documentary in the offing, this time based on historical recordings between a fixer, suspected to be Munawar and bookies in India. As with the first programme, we will investigate any claims made in a full and thorough manner and we take any allegations of corruption, historical or contemporary, extremely seriously. Based on what we already know, we have engaged the services of an independent betting analysis company to examine the claims made about particular matches,” he added.

“As with the first programme we have, and will continue to ask for the cooperation of the broadcaster. Access to the raw, unedited footage enables us to build a complete picture around the claims in the documentary and ensure our investigation is as fair and thorough as possible.”

(Ians)

Indian archers took silver in the Compound Women’s Team category following a narrow loss to South Korea at the 18th Asian Games here on Tuesday.

The Indians gave a tough fight to the overwhelming favourites before going down 228-231 in the final.

The Indian team of Muskan Kirar, Madhumita Kumari and Jyothi Vennam won the first set, but could not sustain the momentum, going down 59-57, 56-58, 58-58, 55-58.

(Ians)

The Indian men’s table tennis team blanked Macau 3-0 in their Pool D encounter at the 18th Asian Games here on Monday.

Manav Thakkar defeated Ian Tin Mak 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 to steer India to a 3-0 victory.

Earlier, the seasoned Anthony Amalraj gave India a 1-0 lead courtesy his 11-7, 11-3, 11-4 facile triumph over Chun Wang.

Harmeet Desai next got the better of Zikang Xiao 11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3 to extend India’s lead to 2-0.

The Indians will take on Vietnam in their final group D match later on Monday.

On Donald Bradman’s 110th birth anniversary, former England captain Ray Illingworth said India have a chance to match the exploits of the Australian cricket great and his team, adding that the ongoing India-England Test series is still on the balance.

After winning the first two Tests, England were given a reality check by Virat Kohli and Co. at Trent Bridge where they scripted a massive 203-run victory.

With two more matches to go, there are talks of whether this team can ape Bradman’s Australia in overturning a 0-2 deficit against England in the Ashes and winning the five-match series 3-2 way back in 1936-37.

“Well, India have shown they have come here to fight. They did very well to make a comeback in the series by winning the Test match at Trent Bridge convincingly,” Illingworth told Anandabazar Patrika here.

“I would say, the series is 50-50 and after the Trent Bridge win, India has a chance to do what no other team could manage to do in many many years after Don Bradman’s team in 1936-37.

“But I would still say, both teams have equal chances. England have to pick up and improve on their performance at the Trent Bridge. India, on the other hand, would be much more confident now after their convincing victory,” added Illingworth who was the England captain in 1971 when India won their historic first Test in England.

Despite India’s persistent problem in slip catching and not having a settled slip cordon, Illingworth was all praise about the fielding of this team.

“I am also very impressed with the fielding quality of this Indian team. Their slip catching has been outstanding in the Trent Bridge Test. Barring a couple of tough chances they almost grabbed everything that came their way. This is the best Indian fielding side I have ever seen,” he said.

The 86-year-old further opined that the current Indian bowling attack is faster than that of England.

“Their attack was completely dependable on spinners. Now they have not one, not two, but four genuine quick bowlers, who all are faster than the England bowlers. This is a remarkable change for Indian cricket,” he said.

The fourth Test begins on August 30 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.

(Ians)

Star Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu created history as she stormed into the women’s single badminton final at the 2018 Asian Games here on Monday but her compatriot Saina Nehwal had to settle for a bronze.

After defeating World No.2 Akane Yagamuchi of Japan 21-17, 15-21, 21-10 in the semis, the 23-year-old became the first Indian shuttler to reach the final of badminton singles competition at the Asiad.

Sindhu will now face Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying on Tuesday. Tai had entered the final after defeating India’s Saina Nehwal in straight games in the other semi-final on Monday.

Nehwal had to settle for bronze after suffering a 21-17, 21-14 defeat in the semis. The 28-year-old’s bronze is the first individual badminton medal at the Asiad for India in 36 years.

The clash between Sindhu and Yagamuchi was a hard-fought, edge-of-the-seat affair. The scoreline read 6-6 in the first game before Sindhu started to attack Yagamuchi’s forehand to take a 11-8 lead at the break.

The Indian further extended her lead to 17-12 but three consecutive points by Yamaguchi bought the Japanese back into the contest. Sindhu however, maintained her dominance and sealed the first game in 22 minutes.

The second game also saw a tight start as the score were levelled at 3-3 before Sindhu took a 7-4 lead. The Japanese then showed some brilliant skills to level it at 10-10 and took a narrow 11-10 lead at the break.

Yagamuchi continued to push the Indian on to the backfoot as she extended her lead to 16-12 before making it 18-14.

Later, Sindhu managed to clinch just a single point as her opponent raced away to seal the second game and get back on leve terms.

The third and final game saw Sindhu taking a 7-3 lead and further stretching it to 11-7 at the break. Continous errors by the Japanese helped the Indian take a six point lead as the score read 17-10 in Sindhu’s favour.

Yagamuchi then failed to put up a fight in the closing stages as the Rio Olympic silver medalist wrapped up the affair 21-10 to enter the final.

Earlier on Monday, Saina faced a tough battle against the World No.1 from Taiwan.

In a close fought match, Saina trailed 0-3 in the first game before making a comeback to draw at 10-10. However, her opponent took five consecutive points to take a 15-10 lead.

Putting up a good fight yet again, Saina reduced the deficit to 15-16 but the Taiwan shuttler denied the Indian any further onslaught as she wrapped up the 19-minute affair 21-17.

In the second game, Tai once again raced to a 4-1 lead and some unforced errors from Saina helped her to increase her lead to 6-2.

Saina again fought back to level the scores at 6-6 and went into the break trailing 10-11. The issue went 15-14 in Tai’s favour before the Taiwanese once again dominated the final few moments to seal the game 21-14 in her favour.

(IANS)

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday announced a cash award of Rs 1.5 crore for sprinter Dutee Chand for winning the silver medal in the 100 meter event at 18th Asian Games in Indonesia.

Dutee from Odisha had on Sunday sealed the second spot in the women’s 100 meter event at the Asian Games by finishing the race in 11.32 seconds. She missed the gold medal by a mere 0.02 second.

The Chief Minister congratulated Dutee, a hundred-meter sprint national record holder.

“It is a matter of pride that an athlete from Odisha has brought laurels to the country in this event after 20 years. In 1998 Asian Games, Odia Athlete Rachita Panda Mistri had won bronze medal,” said a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office(CMO).

“In recognition of her grit, determination and hard work, the Chief Minister has announced a cash award of Rs 1.5 crore to Dutee Chand,” the statement said.

The state has a special focus on Athletics, considering the performance of its athletes in recent times and the huge potential among the talented youth, the statement said.

To encourage Athletics, the state had organised the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships in 2017 in partnership with International Association of Athletics Federation and Athletics Federation of India.

Odisha is all set to launch the much awaited high-performance Regional Athletics Academy at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar soon. It is a first of its kind at the state level.

India’s Govindan Lakshmanan missed out on taking a medal in the men’s 10,000 metres category at the 18th Asian Games here on Sunday as he was disqualified following an official review.

The Indian Army runner had originally finished third, which would have earned the first Asian Games medal for India in that event after a gap of two decades.

But the Indian was disqualified because his foot touched the inside of the track.

Govindan had registered a time of 29 minutes and 44.91 seconds. Hassan Chani of Bahrain won gold with a time of 28:35.54. His compatriot Abraham Cheroben took silver with 29:00.29 while China’s Zhao Changhong (30:07.49) got the bronze.

Later, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) lodged an official protest against the decision.

“AFI files a Protest regarding DQ of G Lakshmanan (10000m) at #AsianGames2018,” the AFI posted on Twitter.

(IANS)

About 80 wrestlers from 11 countries gathered here for the first Asian championship of “kuresi,” or traditional Kazakh wrestling.

“Today in Asia’s first kuresi competition, countries such as Sri Lanka, Japan and Iran are participating for the first time,” Energy Minister and head of the international traditional Kazakh wrestling federation, Kanat Bozumbayev, told Efe news on Sunday.

The aim of the event is to popularise the sport, which has been included since 2016 on Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List, not only in Kazakhstan itself but also in other countries.

“Our aim is to include kuresi on the list for the Los Angeles Olympic Games,” said Bozumbayev, regarding the Olympics to be held in the southern California city in 2028.

He said that kuresi, where the wrestlers confront each other on foot with the aim of simply downing their opponents and pinning them on their backs, is a sport that “is based on the fans, on the patriots, on those who are concerned about our history”.

That’s why, in the words of well-known Kazakh wrestler Ulan Ryskulov, Kazakh wrestling is different from other similar disciplines since “the kuresi athletes don’t deliver hard blows” against their adversaries and “the combat doesn’t continue after one of the rivals falls”.

Ersin Seytkazinov, who won the gold medal in the 82 kg class, applauded the celebration of the event.

“The Asian kuresi championship was very successful and very strong. Our main competitors have been athletes from Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan,” Seytkazinov said.

(IANS)