Asian Games 2018: Day 10 Round-up as Table Tennis, Archery, Athletics contribute for India's best day so far
It seems to be that the eighteenth Asian Games will be a tournament of two-halves for India. After a slow first seven days, the rate with which Athletes are winning medals for India has increased.
Day Ten proved to be India's best day in the 2018 Asian Games so far.
We pick up where we left off in Badminton, with Sindhu going up against Tai Tzu Ying for the Asiad Gold. The Indian shuttler had stunned Akane Yamaguchi in the Semifinal to find herself in this position. Her opponent, Tai Tzu Ying, had defeat Saina Nehwal to reach the final.
Sindhu was looking to end the Gold medal drought which has followed her all year. Unfortunately, she will have to wait some more to do so. Tai Tzu Ying ran out as the clear winner, beating Sindhu 21-13, 21-16. As a result, Sindhu finished the competition with a Silver medal.
Archery was another event which saw Indian teams feature in the final. Both Indian Women and Men Compound Teams faced South Korea in their respective finals.
Women were up first. They gave a good fight but ended up on the losing side in the final. The final score was 231-228 in favour of the South Koreans.
The Men's team came even closer to winning a medal. In fact, when the tie ended, the Indian team were leading on the scoreboard. However, a technicality allowed South Korea to tie the match. The two teams then competed in a shoot-off and once again, finished with level scores. Nevertheless, South Korea won the Gold in this one as well because they hit a bullseye during the shoot-off.
As a result, the Indian Men's and Women's Compound Archery team head home with a Silver medal each.
More action followed in Hockey, where the Indian Men's team defeated Sri-Lanka 20-0 (Yes. Twenty!) in their Pool match.
In Boxing, however, both Sonia Lather and Pavitra lost their bouts and exited the competition.
We now move on to some sports which might have gone under the radar, on an action-packed Day Ten.
Cycling was the early event of the day in which there was Indian representation in two different events. First up was Women's Keirin in which Deborah and Sonali Chanu were participating on behalf of India. However, neither cyclist could reach the final of the event.
The Indian Women's team was also competing on Day Ten in the Pursuit events. However, they finished fifth in the standings.
Fan-favourite Sepaktakraw returned on the tenth day with the Women's Quadrant in action. They face Japan in their Preliminary Group B game. However, Japan ran out 2-0 winners, handing the Indian quadrant their first defeat.
A variation on tennis, Soft Tennis, was another sport in which there was Indian participation. In Men's Preliminary Singles, Jitender Mehlda lost both his matches, while Jay Meena won one and lost one. Over in Women's, Abhilasha Mehra won one and lost won while Namita Mehra lost both.
The Indian Men's team also faced Pakistan, in Volleyball. However, they were well and truly beaten on the day, losing by three sets to one.
There was plenty of action in Bridge, as well. There were qualification rounds in Men's, Mixed, and Women's pairs. However, there were merely round 1 of 4, so there is a lot of competition remaining before the final standings are revealed.
Moving on to Sailing. After eleven races, Varun Thakkar and Ganapathy Chengappa ranked third in the Men's 49er. In Women's 49er, Varsha Gautham and Sweta Shervegar ranked second after eleven races as well.
In Laser Radial, Nethra Kumanan stayed in the fifth place after nine rounds. While in Open Laser 4.7, Govind Bairagi and Harshita Tomar ranked 3rd and 4th, respectively.
Over in Equestrian, the Indian team finished 15th and were eliminated in the Jumping team event. In the Jumping Individual event, there was a disappointment as well.
In Men's Synchronised Diving, the duo of Ramananda Sharma and Siddharth Pardeshi finished 6th.
Kurash was the surprising winner of the day, as Pincky Balhara won the Silver medal in Women's 52 Kg. There was also a Bronze medal to come, which was won by Malaprabha Jadhav in the same event.
Table Tennis also provided the Indian fans with some great news as the Men's team won the Bronze medal. They were beaten in the final by South Korea in straight matches. Nevertheless, it was still a huge achievement.
Squash returned on Day Ten, with the Indian Women's team winning both their Pool matches against Thailand and Indonesia by 3-0. The Men's team followed suit, beating Qatar 2-1.
The big winner of the day was, once again, Athletics.
The Indian pair of Manjit Singh and Jinson Johnson shocked everyone when they achieved a one-two podium finish in Men's 800m. Both runners were out of contention until the final bend, before completing a stunning dash to the finish line
There was also progress in Women's Heptathlon, as Swapna Barman and Purnima Hembram finished the day in first and third position, respectively.
Annu Rani couldn't win a medal in Women's Javelin Throw. Neither could Suriya Loganathan and Sanjivani Jadhav in Women's 5000m.
Dutee Chand, however, shone once again as she finished first in the Semifinal of the Women's 200m event. Hima Das was Disqualified from the same.
There was to be yet another medal for India, however, as the quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, MR Poovamma, Hima Das, and Rajiv Arokia won the Silver medal in Mixed 4x400 race. The Indian squad has also lodged a formal complaint that could see them bumped up to first tomorrow.
Day Ten was the best for India in the Asian Games so far. Here's hoping that tomorrow proves to be even better.