Asian Games 2018: Day 12 round-up as Women's 4x400m Relay team wins fifth straight Gold medal
We are heading into the home stretch and so far it has been a terrific competition! That's right, three more days and it is curtains for the next four years.
Athletics finally came to a close on Day 12 of the 2018 Asian Games.
The Women's 4x400m team achieved something remarkable when they crossed the finish line on Day 12 of the games. Their first placed finish meant that they have now won the same event on the last five occasions! Hima Das and co. followed up with the Gold medals from 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014, with one of their own.
The Men's 4x400m relay team could not repeat the same feat. They came pretty close, however. Instead, the Men's team won the Silver medal behind the new Asian Games Record Holder's Bahrain.
There were more medals to come on Day 12 of the Games as Seema Punia won the Bronze medal with her Discus throw. Chitra Unnikrishnan won the Bronze as well, in Women's 1500m.
Jinson Johnson completed a stunning run to finish first in the Men's 1500m. He adds a Gold to his Silver from Men's 800m. Manjit Singh came breathtakingly close to winning a medal in the same event. However, he finished fourth.
With that, the Athletics competition at the 18th Asian Games finally comes to a close, with India winning NINETEEN medals from the sport.
There weren't any more medals handed out to India on Day 12. There was, however, a lot of progress.
Table Tennis was back on Day 12 of the Asian Games with Four Indians in action. All of them played their Round of 32 matches.
First up was Mouma Das, who played against Chinese Taipei's Chen Szuyu in the Round of 32. Das, however, was on the wrong side of a heavy defeat, as her opponent ran away with the match in four straight games.
Manika Batra was also in action on the twelfth day of the Asian Games. She faced Thailand's Komwong Nanthana. Batra was on the right side of the scoreline in this one, as she beat her Thai opponent, 4-0.
Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran followed. Both the Men were able to beat their respective opponents. Kamal marched into the Round of 16 after an easy win over Pakistan's Muhammad Asim Qureshi. Sathiyan, on the other hand, struggled a but against his opponent but made it into the next round after a 4-2 win.
Elsewhere, the Hockey Men's team faced Malaysia in the Semifinal. Both the teams were difficult to separate in normal time, as the match ended 2-2. However, Malaysia went on to win the resulting penalty shootout 7-6 and advanced to the final. The Indian team will now contest the Bronze medal match.
There was also progress in Bridge, as several participants played in Semifinal 1. Two more semifinals now come our way, before another two finals. The medal winners will be decided then.
Moving on, Squash returned on Day 12 with a solitary match- Indian Women's team vs Hong Kong Women's team. With the Indian side having already qualified, this was merely a formality. Nevertheless, Hong Kong proved to be too difficult for India, as the latter lost 2-1. They progress to the next round nonetheless.
In Volleyball, the Men's team lost Classification 11-12 match against neighbours Myanmar by three sets to two.
Elsewhere, the Indian Women's team played Thailand in Sepaktakraw. The match was for Women's Quadrant Pool B. The Indian team lost the match 2-0.
There was disappointment in Judo as well, as both Harshdeep Brar and Garima Choudhary lost their respective Round of 16 matches.
Sticking with martial arts, Kurash returned on Day 12 of the Asian Games. Jyoti Tokas and Amisha Tokas, both lost their Round of 16 matches in Women's 78 Kg weight category.
In Men's 90 Kg, Danish Sharma made it to the Quarterfinal before losing. Divesh lost in the Round of 16 itself.
There were four finals in Canoe/Kayak Sprint as well. However, all four finalists didn't finish in the top three.
Nothing remarkable took place in either Cycling, Diving, or Equestrian, as well.
With Day 12 over, there are just three more days remaining. Nevertheless, those three days promise to be extremely exciting if we go by what has already happened.