Ace India shuttler Saina Nehwal had to settle for the bronze after suffering a straight games defeat in her women’s single semi-final clash at the 2018 Asian Games here on Monday. The 28-year-old Indian lost 17-21, 14-21 to World No.1 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan.

Saina’s bronze is the first individual badminton medal at the Asiad for India in 36 years.

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)

The Indian women paddlers got their campaign underway at the 2018 Asian Games on a positive note as they reached the quarter-finals here on Sunday.

Team comprising Mouma Das Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutritha Mukherjee defeated Qatar 3-0 in the first match but lost to China 0-3 in the second match. In the third match of the day, India outplayed Iran 3-1 to join China in the quarters.

In the first affair, Mouma Das handed India a 1-0 lead as she registered a comfortable 11-3, 11-2, 11-4 victory over Maha Ali before Ayhika Mukherjee extended the lead 2-0.

Ayhika won the first game 11-2 but her opponent — Aia Mohamed — made a comeback in the second game winning it 12-10. Ayhika however, didn’t faulter in the next two games and won it 11-2, 11-3.

Sutirtha Mukherjee then made the issue 3-0 as the 22-year-old paddler hammered Maha Faramarzi 11-3, 11-3, 11-6 to seal the first match.

The second saw India tasting defeat against China but bounced back in style to win the third and final match to enter the quarters.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, India men’s team comprising G. Sathiyan, Sharath Kamal and Harmeet Desai won their first match 3-0 against UAE.

(IANS)

India’s men’s and women’s compound archery teams overcame Taiwan teams in the semi-finals on Sunday to set up title clashes against South Korean teams at the 18th Asian Games here.

While the men’s team beat Qatar, Philippines and Taiwan in the three matches on the day to be one win away from successfully defending their title, the women’s team got past Indonesia and Taiwan in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.

The mens’s team, comprising Rajat Chauhan, Aman Saini and Abhishek Verma, began the day with an easy 227-213 victory over Qatar, who lost each of the four sets 52-57, 55-56, 54-56 and 52-58.

In their next match, India pipped Philippines 227-226. While the first set ended 56-56, India took a one point lead at the end of the second set which ended 58-57 in favour of the south Asian outfit.

India won the third set 59-57 to make it a three-point advantage with a total of 173-170. Philippines won the fourth set 56-54 to reduce the deficit by two points but India eventually won 227-226. Two eighths from Abhishek and Saini meant it was a nervy set for the Indians.

In the big semi-final, the Indian team defeated Taiwan’s troika of Lin Chewei, Lin Hsinmin and Pan Yuping 230-227.

The first set ended 57-57, with both teams scoring three 10s each. The second set saw India register a 57-56 victory as they held a one-point lead at 114-113. Chewei of Taiwan scored an eight in his second shot as they trailed India.

The third set, which ended 58-55, gave a four-point advantage to India with the total scores at 172-168. While South Korea scored two 10s, India came up with four 10s. Chewei and Hsinmin scored an eight each but Aman came out with two 9s to ensure India gain crucial advantage.

Trailing by four points, a desperate Taiwan came out all guns blazing and won the fourth set 59-58 but they coulnd’t stop India from winning the match 230-227.

In the fourth set, Taiwan fired five 10s but India didn’t relent and shot four 10s — the last one coming in the fifth and penultimate shot. It meant that Rajat just had to shoot a 7 to secure victory for India. And Rajat came out with a 9 to give India the win.

Out of the eight shots, Jaipur’s Rajat got seven 10s and one nine as he went through a phenomenal run.

Rajat and Abhishek were part of India’s team which won the gold medal in this category at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.

The Indian women’s team of Muskan Kirar, Madhumita Kumari and Jyothi Surekha Vennam pipped Indonesia’s Sri Ranti, Yurike Nina Pereira and Dellie Threesyadinda 229-224 in a pre-quarterfinal clash.

The Indians lost the first set 56-57 before winning the second at 58-56 to take a one-point lead. They again went down in the third set 56-57 but a brilliant performance in the fourth and final set saw them win 59-54.

In the semi-final, India defeated Taiwan’s Liju Chen, Yihsuan Chen and Mingching Lin 225-222.

Despite being at the receiving end in the first two sets at 55-58 and 55-57, the Indians made a brilliant comeback in the last two sets to win 57-55, 58-52.

(IANS)

 Reigning champions India men’s hockey team defeated South Korea 5-3 to sit at the top spot of pool A of the 18th Asian Games here on Sunday.

India will only need a draw against Sri Lanka on Tuesday to end its pool as a top ranked team and enter the semi-finals.

It was India’s fourth successive victory in Pool after winning 17-0 against Indonesia, 26-0 against Hong-Kong China and 8-0 win against Japan in their first three matches respectively.

It was drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh (1st minute), Chinglensana Singh Kangujam (5th), Lalit Upadhyay (16th), Manpreet Singh (49th) and Akashdeep Singh (56th) who contributed to India’s scoreline.

For South Korea, Skipper Manjae Jung (33th, 35th) and Jhongyun Jang (60th) scored.

India’s first goal came from a penalty stroke scored by Rupinder. It was a goal bound ball stopped by the last South Korea defender with his body that resulted in them conceding the penalty stroke.

The team further won two penalty corners in the final minute of the first quarter. While Rupinder’s first flick had to be taken again as it was blocked by the first rusher, his second attempt was well-saved by the South Korea goalkeeper.

However, only minutes earlier, Rupinder set-up India’s second goal superbly converted by Vice Captain Chinglensana Singh Kangujam.

It was a brilliant showcase of one-touch hockey where Rupinder’s long-pass from the centre of the midfield found an impressive deflection off Chinglensana’s stick.

India continued to play with superb speed, with impressive counter attacks that put the South Korea defence on immense pressure.

India’s third goal came in the 16th Minute through a smart scoop pass from Simranjeet Singh that was well controlled by Lalit Upadhyay who had positioned well to take a successful deflection that landed the ball over the Republic Of Korea goalkeeper into the net.

South Korea however made brave attempts to overcome the initial setback as they created chances to score.

In the 24th minute, Republic Of Korea won two back-to-back penalty corners but couldn’t make much of the opportunity as India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and first rusher Manpreet Singh’s efforts respectively ensured India kept a clean sheet.

In the following minute, Amit Rohidas helped win India’s fourth penalty corner of the match but could not convert.

South Korea immediately launched a quick-fire counter attack, landing the ball in their striking circle in just three touches. But the shot taken was way off the mark.

South Korea made a strong start to the third quarter when a long-pass into the circle trying to fetch a perfect deflection unfortunately hit the cross-bar.

But a smart referral saw Republic Of Korea win a penalty corner. Sreejesh’s block in an attempt to clear the ball was deemed dangerous as it hit the Republic Of Korea striker in the circle.

This time South Korea used a smart variation which was successfully converted by the team’s skipper Manjae Jung.

South Korea tricked India’s defence to score yet another goal through Manjae that narrowed the team’s lead to 2-3.

India missed some potential chances to score in the following minutes as forwards Akashdeep Singh and SV Sunil narrowly missed scoring goals in two separate attempts.

The final quarter was tense as Republic Of Korea defence upped their ante while India pushed for goals.

Manpreet Singh struck India’s fourth goal set up by a good interception by Akashdeep. Manpreet was excellent in receiving the ball from Akashdeep and made a quick dribble into the striking circle and took a powerful back-hand shot to beat Republic Of Korea goalkeeper that helped take India’s lead to 4-2.

A clever pass by Mandeep Singh to Akashdeep saw him convert yet another splendid back-hand shot taking India’s score to a comfortable 5-2.

Meanwhile, India won a penalty corner with a little over four minutes left for the final hooter. A good flick by Rupinder was pushed away by the Republic Of Korea goalkeeper denying India’s fifth attempt at penalty corner.

A defensive error saw India concede a penalty corner in the last minute of the match. Their opponents retook the penalty corner after the ball struck the foot of India’s first rusher.

They were awarded yet another penalty corner after it again struck the foot of defender Amit Rohidas.

This time Jhongyun Jang was successful in beating Sreejesh to fetch third goal for his team.

(IANS)

Jakarta India produced a spirited fight before being outplayed by Taiwan in Group 3 match in the men’s handball competition at the 18th Asian Games here on Sunday.

The Indians were let down by some poor defending during a 31-35 loss in what their third match in the group stage.

India are now second in the group with four points from three matches. Taiwan finished the group stage at the top spot with eight points, having won all their four matches.

India had started their campaign with an easy 45-19 win over Malaysia. They then edged out arch-rivals Pakistan 28-27 in a thrilling contest which saw the winning goal being scored in the dying seconds.

The Indians will take on hosts Indonesia in their final group engagement on August 29.

Goalkeeper Kamaljeet Singh was one of the standout performers for India during Sunday’s match as he pulled off a string of brilliant saves to keep the deficit within manageable limits right till the end.

The Indians enjoyed the height and physical advantage which allowed their forwards to score at regular intervals. But they were made to work hard for each goal by the well organised Taiwan defence.

The occasional bout of poor co-ordination and some below par play on the wings also harmed the Indian cause.

Naveen Punia and Sachin Bhardwaj were the top scorers for India with five goals each while the experienced Greenidge D’Cunha got four.

But the real let down for the Indians throughout this tournament has been their leaky defence. The defenders struggled to get together a semblance of co-ordination during Sunday’s game. The man marking was extremely poor and the occasional tendency to give the ball away easily saw them concede soft goals.

Taiwan were easily the superior team since their technical and tactical ability was street ahead of their opponents. Their tight, well organised defence and the ability to create fast counter-attacks from the backline coupled with their lighting quick speed have seen them dominate all their group matches.

[IANS]

Jakarta, Aug 26 (IANS) Bahrain’s Rose Chelimo won gold in the women’s marathon at the Asian Games here on Sunday.

Chelimo crossed the finish line in a time of two hours, 34 minutes and 51 seconds, beating Japan’s Keiko Nogami by one minute, 36 seconds for silver, and North Korea’s Kim Hye Song by two minutes, 29 seconds for bronze, reports Efe news.

Kenyan-born Chelimo’s gold appeared to be the first for Bahrain at the games, bringing the medal total to three and topping two silvers. The win bumped the country’s medal table standing up from 25th to 20th.

On Sunday morning, China was leading the medals table with a total of 153, ahead of Japan with 109 and South Korea with 84.

[IANS]

Indian boxer Pavitra registered a comprehensive win over Pakistan’s Rukhsana Perveen to proceed to the quarterfinals of women’s 60 kg weight category in the Asian Games here on Saturday.

Pavitra, the former National Games gold medallist, dominated the bout that saw the scoreline reading 10-8 in her favour after the referees were forced to stop the competition even before the opening round ended.

Making her Asiad debut in place of former world and Asian champion L. Sarita Devi in the lightweight category, Pavitra wasted little time k

The Indian women’s recurve archery team was knocked out of the 18th Asian Games after losing 2-6 to Taiwan in the quarter-finals here on Saturday.

India lost the first set 55-56 followed by a defeat in the second as well at 51-56. India won the third set 54-52 but trailed 2-4 to eventually lose the battle.

Earlier, the Indians had beaten Mongolia 5-3 to advance to the quarters.

Meanwhile, the Indian men’s recurve team beat Vietnam 5-3 to enter the quarter-finals.

Jakarta, Aug 24 (IANS) The Indian compound mixed archery team of Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Abhishek Verma lost to Iran in the quarter-finals of the 18th Asian Games here on Friday.

Jyothi and Abhishek lost 153-155 to the Iranian pair of Fereshteh Ghorbani and Nima Mahboubi Matbooe.

Earlier in the day, Jyothi and Abhishek defeated Fatimah Saad and Eshaq Ibrahim of Iraq 155-147 in the pre-quarterfinals.

The Indian pair won the first set at 40-36. They maintained their dominance to win the next three sets 37-36, 39-38 and 39-37.

In the finals, the Indian pair scored 39, 39, 37, 38 in each of the four sets. The Iranian pair bettered them with scores of 38, 39, 40, 38.

India won the first set 39-38 and the second set ended 39-39 as the total stood at 78-77.

In the third set, Iran overtook as India scored 37 while, the former got a full 40. The two-point deficit proved to be the difference as the fourth and final set saw the teams score an identical 38, as India got a total of 153, while Iran had 155.

With this win, Iran joined South Korea, Singapore and Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals.

jakarta  India’s boxing campaign started on an unfortunate note after Gaurav Solanki was outpunched by Japan’s Tanaka Ryomei 5-0 in the men’s Flyweight (52kg) Round of 32 clash at the Asian Games here on Friday.

Solanki, the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist started off cautiously before being pinned down with a straight hit on the face towards the end of the first round.

The Japanese continued his aggression in the second round but Gaurav finally managed to retaliate with a jab to the face to collect some crucial points.

In the final round, the Indian gradually ran out of steam, which helped the Japanese dominate with effective counter-punches and ensure his march to the next round.

Later in the day, Manoj Kumar will be in action against Bhutan’s Wangdi Sangay in the men’s Welterweight (69kg) category.