Asian Games 2023: 3 talking points from Day 7
Day 7 of Asian Games 2023 concluded on Saturday in Hangzhou. India won five medals, including two gold medals. The Indian team are fourth in the Asian Games 2023 medal tally at the end of the day.
The first gold medal of the day came from tennis. India's mixed doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale beat Chinese Taipei's Liang En-shuo and Tsung-hao Huang in three sets.
Later in the day, India won gold in the men's team squash event, beating neighbours Pakistan in the final. The other three medals came in shooting and athletics.
On that note, let's look at the top three talking points from Day 7 of Asian Games 2023"
#1 Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale win gold for India at Asian Games 2023
Not many Indian fans would have expected a gold medal in tennis, but the mixed doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale surpassed expectations.
Notably, Bopanna and Bosale lost 6-2 in the first set of their gold medal match against Chinese Taipei's Liang En-shuo and Tsung-hao Huang. However, they made a fabulous comeback, taking the next set 6-3 and the matach tiebreak 10-4 to secure the victory.
After winning the gold medal, Rohan Bopanna disclosed the one change the team made after the first set:
"Today after we lost the first set I said, 'Let's change sides to return. We need something to change the match."
The change proved to be a masterstroke.
#2 Indian squash team wins gold in men's event at Asian Games 2023
India avenged their group stage defeat against Pakistan in the men's squash event by defeating their neighbours in the final. Mahesh Mangaonkar lost the opening game, but Saurav Ghosal and Abhay Singh won the next two to help India win the gold.
It's pertinent to note that Abhay Singh was down 10-8 in the final game against Noor Zaman. He made a splendid comeback and won the next four straight points to steal a win from the jaws of defeat and seal his team's gold.
#3 Twin medals for India in Men's 10,000 meter
In the men's 10,000 meter race in Hangzhou. India's Karthik Kumar won silver, while his compatriot Gulveer Singh finished third to win the bronze.
Bahrain's Yemataw Balew won the gold after finishing the race in 28:13.62. Kumar secured the second spot with a time of 28:15.38, while Singh took 28 minutes and 17.21 seconds to complete the race.
Apart from the medals mentioned above, India also won one silver medal in shooting. It came in 10m air pistol mixed team event. Sarabjot Singh and Divya TS finished first in the qualification round, but in the final, China's Zhang Bowen and Jiang Ranxin beat them 16-14.