Aichi-Nagoya (TIP): Cheers, smiles, and celebrations were galore in the Indian camp on the 10th day of the Aichi Asian Games. On the 10th day, as the 500-plus-strong contingent got its fifth gold, intriguingly, the Games leader, China, is now hovering around the 250-medal mark with 233 already in its kitty.
India may be the world’s second, third, and fourth largest growing economic power, but unlike other Asian economic powerhouses like China, Japan, and Korea, its benchmarks in prosperity, health care, and sports come nowhere near its other competitors. Midway on the 10th day of the elite sporting extravaganza, India’s medal tally had swelled to 47 with five gold and the rest equally divided between silver and bronze.
On a rain-marred day again, India finally got past its four-gold barrier, with shooter Neeru getting a podium finish in the Trap event for women to give her country its second shooting gold in the Aichi 2026 Asian Games.
In the final shootout, Neeru set a new Asian record of 28 while getting past her nearest rivals Sun Yoong (China) and Hajar Abdulmalik of Kuwait. Sun Yoong got silver with a score of 26 while Hajar recorded a score of 21 to take the bronze.
With Neeru’s gold, India has taken its shooting tally to 14, including two gold and eight silvers. Indian hopes of now getting its gold medal haul into double figures have brightened after good showing by boxers.
Festivities returned to India’s camp after boxers Parveen (64 kg) in the women’s section and Ankush in the 80 kg category made the gold medal round, while Narender (+90 kg) lost his semifinal bout to Aibek Oralbay on points to end with a bronze.
Three other Indian boxers-Priya (60 kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg) in the women’s section and Kapil Pokhariya (90 kg)-will have their semifinal bouts tomorrow.
India’s men’s hockey team stormed into the Asian Games final after edging arch-rivals Pakistan 4-3 in a thrilling semifinal on October 1. India had raced to a 3-0 lead before Pakistan fought back to level the score, but Abhishek struck with just 49.2 seconds remaining to seal the victory. India will face Malaysia in the gold-medal match on October 3 after Malaysia defeated South Korea 2-1 in the other semifinal.The Indian women’s team has also reached the final after beating South Korea 2-0 in their semifinal. Ishika opened the scoring in the third quarter before captain Salima Tete added a second in the final quarter. India will face defending champions China in the women’s final on October 2. China defeated hosts Japan in a shootout after their semifinal ended goalless.
In the absence of defending champion Neeraj Chopra, India had the consolation of winning both a silver and a bronze medal in the men’s javelin throw. Though the gold went to Rumesh Pathirage of Sri Lanka with a throw of 88.55 m, India’s Yashvir Singh, with his personal best of 85.72 m, won the silver. His teammate Rohit Yadav was third as he hurled the javelin to a distance of 84.35 m.
Long-distance runner Gulveer Singh completed a rare silver “double” by finishing second in 1500 m. Earlier, he had taken the silver medal in the grueling 10,000 m. Another Indian athlete to bag a double, this time of bronze medals, has been Parul Chaudhary. In the women’s events, Parul had won bronze medals in the 3000 m steeplechase and 5000 m run.
After 14 medals in shooting, India, even without winning a single gold, got 19 medals in athletics so far. Nine of these have been silver and the rest bronze medals. Track and field events would end late in the evening, as there was no let-up in the spell of inclement weather hitting the games.
In cricket, a record number of five matches-Bangladesh vs Malaysia, Pakistan vs Hong Kong, China vs India, Afghanistan vs Japan, and Malaysia vs Oman-were cancelled because of rain. Going by the ICC rules, based on their ICC rankings, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were declared winners of their abandoned games.
The situation was no different in softball, where the rains played spoilsport.
Other than Kabaddi and cricket, teams of Indian shooters have given a good account of themselves. Besides winning a gold in the 10 m air rifle mixed team, shooters have contributed 14 medals to the Indian tally so far. The shooting teams won medals in all three team events in skeet-women, men, and mixed-groups.
(Prabhjot Singh is a Toronto-based senior journalist who writes on Sports, politics and community. He can be reached at prabhjot416@gmail.com)
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