Archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Ojas Deotale finished the 2023 Asian Games as two of the Indian contingent's most successful members, winning a third gold medal each in compound archery as India ended Day 14 of the games with a total of 107 medal.
100 medals was the target set for the contingent at the start of the Hangzhou edition and they crossed the magical mark when the women's kabaddi team clinched the gold medal on Saturday afternoon. The 100th medal though wasn't the end, as India continued to add more podium finishes with the men's and women's kabaddi teams and the cricket team also winning gold, Satwik and Chirag creating history by winning the mixed doubles gold and Deepak Punia finishing with a wrestling silver.
Ending the day were the men's and women's chess teams that won a silver each.
Gold and Bronze in Women's Individual Compound Archery
India's Day 14 started with a string of medals in the compound archery events with two Indians finishing on each of the individual event's podiums.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam registered a commanding 149-145 victory over Republic of Korea's So Chaewon in the women's individual final to bag the gold for her third gold in Hangzhou. She had earlier finished on top of the podium in the Compound Women's Team event and Compound Women's Mixed Team competition.
Following Jyothi on the podium was 17-year-old reigning World Champion Aditi Gopichand Swami who claimed the bronze medal by beating Indonesian R.Z. Fadhly 146-140 in difficult conditions.
Ojas and Abhishek Win Gold and Silver in Men's Compound
Reigning World Champion Ojas Pravin Deotale added the Asian Games title to his kitty by beating compatriot Abhishek Verma 149-147 in the final of the Compound Men's Individual archery competition.
It was his third gold medal in this edition of the Asian Games as he had earlier won golds in Compound Men's Team and Compound Mixed Team competitions.
Deotale, the 21-year-old from Nagpur in Maharashtra who won the World Championship in Berlin earlier this year, shot his only score of nine in the final on in the second arrow of the fourth round.
In contrast, Verma shot a nine off the third arrow in the second round and then got an eight on the second arrow of the third, thus pushing him three points behind Deotale. Though, he made up one point by winning the fourth round 30-29, it was not enough to overtake Deotale as he shot a perfect 30 in the fifth and final round.
Historic Gold for Satik-Chirag
The doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made history by winning India's first-ever gold medal in badminton at the Asian Games.
The Indian pair defeated the Republic of Korea pair of Choi Solgyu and Kim Wonho in straight games 21-18, 21-16.
In the first game, the Indian pair trailed their more experienced Korean opponents, 3-6 and then at 4-7 as the Koreans as their more experienced Koreans made a superb start.
The Indian pair, which had defeated Malaysia's Aaron Chia Teng Fong and Soh Wooi Yik in straight games in the semifinal played till late in the evening on Friday, stormed back into the match as they matched the Koreans point for point, as they reduced the margin to 7-10 and then 10-12. As the Koreans tried to stitch points together and the Indians matched them.
Golds in Men's and Women's Kabaddi
In a highly intense thriller, amid referee's goof-ups, India clinched the men's kabaddi gold after defeating Iran 33-29.
With just over a minute remaining, and scores tied 28-28, in the match, Pawan Sehrawat from the Indian team was forced to go in for a do-or-die raid.
During his raid, Pawan went out of bounds without making contact with any Iranian defender. Initially, Iran was awarded a point for their efforts to stop Pawan. However, the Indian contingent, including players and officials, began arguing with the on-court umpire and the TV officials.
After further review and perhaps another referral, the officials decided to award four points to India. It’s mentioned that the number of points could vary depending on the number of players who went out with Pawan.
The final decision seems to be based on both old and new rules. According to the old rule, India would get four (or possibly five) points, while the new rule would give one point to each team because one of the Iranian defenders (Bastami) went out of the line (self-out).
As per the new IKF (International Kabaddi Federation) rule, India was given three points and Iran received one point.
This decision led to protests from the Iranian team. However, in the end, it was India, that won the final 33-29 after a thrilling finale that was interrupted for a long time.
Earlier in the day, the women's team survived a scare before reclaiming the gold medal after a gap of five years, beating Chinese Taipei by one point in the gold medal match.
The Indian team was run close by first-timers Chinese Taipei, who had stunned defending champions Iran in the semifinals, before emerging 26-25 winner at full time.
In the 2018 Games in Indonesia, India lost to Iran 24-27 in the final and had to settle for a silver medal.
Hangzhou: Indian players celebrate after winning the Men's Gold Medal cricket match against Afghanistan at the 19th Asian Games, in Hangzhou, China, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
(Photo: PTI)
Men's Cricket Team Awarded Gold
The Indian Men's cricket team also finished on top of the podium but by virtue of their rankings as the gold medal match against Afghanistan had to be abandoned due to rain.
Earlier, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Women’s team had scripted history by winning the first cricket gold in the Asian Games for India, and now Ruturaj Gaikawad's side brought double glory to the sport.
In the final, Gaikawad put Afghanistan in to bat first and the Afghans lost three wickets early in the innings. Zubaid Akbari was the first batter to get dismissed by Shivam Dube on 5. Then Arshdeep Singh dismissed Mohammad Shahzad on 4. Noor Ali Zadran, the number three batter got run out on 1.
Afghanistan was on 112 for 5 after the 18.2 overs when the rain interruption happened. The drizzle got heavier and it was impossible for the groundsmen to make the ground prepared for the match to resume.
Women's Hockey Team Win Bronze Medal Match
The Indian Women's Hockey Team registered a brilliant 2-1 win over Japan to clinch the Bronze medal after Deepika (5’) and Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam (50’) scored a goal each for the Indian team, while for Japan, Captain Yuri Nagai (30’) netted their lone goal.
The match started with Japan prioritizing ball possession, whereas India immediately went on the offensive. This aggressive approach paid off as they earned a penalty stroke, expertly converted by Deepika (5’) thus granting her team an early advantage. India also managed to secure three penalty corners within the first 15 minutes, but unfortunately, they couldn't capitalize on them. As the first quarter concluded, India held a 1-0 lead.
The second quarter witnessed Japan increasing the frequency of their attacks in order to find an equaliser, while India shifted their focus on keeping possession and counter-attacking to keep the pressure on Japan. While India’s strategy worked to some extent, it was Japan who somehow managed to bounce back in the game with their Captain Yuri Nagai (30’) scoring through the penalty corner in the very last second of the second quarter to put her team on level terms as the score was tied at 1-1 at the halftime break.
Hangzhou: Silver medallist India’s Deepak Punia poses for photos during the presentation ceremony of the men's freestyle 86kg category wrestling event at the 19th Asian Games, in Hangzhou, China, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
(Photo: PTI)
Silver for Wrestler Deepak Punia
The only wrestler to qualify for the medal rounds on Saturday, Deepak Punia finished his campaign with a silver after losing the 86kg gold medal match to Iran’s Hassan Yazdanicharati 0-10 via technical superiority.
Punia, who missed a bronze medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, fought superbly to reach the gold medal match but Yazdanicharati, the Rio Olympic Games gold medallist who claimed a silver in Tokyo in 2021, proved too tough a challenge.
2 Silvers in Chess
The last of Day 14's medals for India come from chess with both the men's and women's teams winning a silver each.
Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi and Harikrishna Pentala comprised of the men's team while Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, Vantika Agrawal and Savita Shri represented India in the women's chess team event.
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