Asiad 2018: Sindhu settles for silver, as does archery team; Dutee, Hima qualify

Shuttler Sindhu settles for Asiad silver

Badminton player PV Sindhu had to settle for silver after going down in straight games in the final of the women's singles category at the 2018 Asian Games on Tuesday.
Sindhu was no match for World No.1 Tai Tzuying of Taiwan and was outclassed 21-13, 21-16 in just 34 minutes.

Silver for both men's and women's teams in Asiad compound archery

Gold eluded India as both the Indian men's and women's compound archery teams settled for silver medals at the 18th Asian Games after going down to powerhouse Korea in the finals on Tuesday.

It was a dramatic men's final in which the Indian team was a point ahead of the Koreans at the end of the regulation four sets.

But the celebrating defending champion side, comprising Abhishek Verma, Rajat Chauhan and Aman Saini, was in for a surprise when Korea managed to log a point on review. One of the Korean team's 9s in final set was deemed a 10 on revision leaving the two teams tied at 229-229.

In the shoot-off, the Koreans managed one inner 10 (closest to bull's eye), a 10 and 9, compared to the two 10s and a 9 by the Indians, to walk away with the top honours. Earlier, the Indian women's team comprising Muskan Kirar, Madhumita Kumari and Jyothi Surekha Vennam, lost 228-231 to Korea in a contest that went down to the wire till the final set of arrows.

India were leading 59-57 after the first set before Korea won the second set 58-56.

The two teams were on even keel in the third set scoring 58 points each but India wilted under pressure losing 55-58 to end up second best.

Sprinters Dutee, Hima enter 200m semis

Indian athletes Dutee Chand and Hima Das qualified for the women's 200 metres semi-finals at the 18th Asian Games 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 in the semi-finals as one of the fastest losers in the heats as she was seventh in the overall standings.

Chopra wins historic gold; Dharun, Sudha, Neena clinch silvers

On Monday, Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's historic gold medal. Reigning Asian champion Neeraj threw 88.06 metres in his third attempt to clinch the gold, bringing India's second medal in the event in Asiad history. Gurtej Singh had taken a bronze at the 1982 edition in New Delhi.

Such was the domination of the 20-year-old that even his lowest throw of 83.25m was better than the nearest competitor.

In his first attempt, Neeraj recorded 83.46 metres. He fouled his second attempt but the next three attempts saw him throwing 88.06m, 83.25m and 86.36m respectively. Neeraj again fouled his final attempt but it did not matter as the other athletes in the field came nowhere close to his performance.

Sudha grabbed her second medal at the Asian Games as she claimed a silver medal in the women's 3,000 metres steeplechase. Sudha, the reigning Asian champion, clocked 9:40.03 minutes to finish behind Bahrain's Winfred Yavi, who completed the race in 9:36.52 minutes.

Neena clinched silver in the women's long jump, recording a best attempt of 6.51 metres to finish second. Bui Thi Thu Thao of Vietnam registered her season's best attempt of 6.55m to win the gold medal.

In the men's 400 metres hurdles, Dharun claimed the silver medal with a new national record, Dharun recorded his personal best of 48.96 seconds to finish second behind Qatari Abderrahman Samba, who delivered a Games record of 47.6s.

The 21-year-old Tamil Nadu athlete became the first Indian to break the 49s timing.

In the women's 400m hurdles, Anu Raghavan and Jauna Murmu finished fourth and fifth respectively.

India also enjoyed a good outing in the boxing ring, with Vikas Krishan and Amit Panghal registering comprehensive victories by identical 5-0 margins to enter the quarter-finals.

Vikas overpowered Ahmed Tanveer of Pakistan by unanimous decision while Amit earned a similar decision against Mongolia's Enkhmandakh Kharkhu.

In squash, the Indian men's team of Saurav Ghoshal, Harinder Sandhu, Ramit Tondon and Mahesh Mangaonkar thrashed Indonesia 3-0 in Pool B and then defeated Singapore 3-0 to boost their chance of reaching the semi-finals.

In the women's category, the India team, comprising Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal, Tanvi Khanna and Sunayna Krurvilla, registered another deserving victory, outplaying Iran 3-0.

with inputs from IANS and PTI