India at Asian Games Day 6: Indian Shooters on Target With Record Medals; Tennis, Squash Teams Shine; Nikhat Zareen Secures Paris Quota

It was raining medals at the Asian Games on Friday, September 29, which was the Day 6 of the continental spectacle. The Indian contingent bagged 8 medals including two gold, four silver and two bronze medals, taking India’s overall tally to 33 as they jumped to fourth place in the standings at Hangzhou.

The Indian trio of Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Kusale and Akhil Sheoran clinched the gold medal in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions team event with a new world record as well, whilst the trio of Esha Singh, Palak and Divya Thadigol Subbaraju nabbed a Silver to kick off the day for India.

The shooting contingent capped off the show with as many as 18 medals, surpassing the highest-ever medal haul during the Asian Games.

The Indian women’s squash team won a bronze medal, while the men’s team are through to the final on Saturday wherein they will face Pakistan.

Two-time World Champion Nikhat Zareen secured her place in the semifinals, guaranteeing another medal as she also clinched her Paris Olympics quota.

FOLLOW THE LATEST UPDATES HERE: Asian Games 2023: Medal Tally,  Schedule, Results, Date, Venues & More

EVENTS:

Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions (Team):

Records are made to be broken, and that is exactly what the Indian trio of Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Kusale and Akhil Sheoran did as they clinched the Gold medal in the men’s 50m rifle 3P event, tipping off hosts China.

The trio put up a mammoth total score of 1769 points, thereby creating a new world record. They broke the previous world record of 1761 points, set by the United States, by 8 points.

The duo of Tomar and Kusale progressed to the individual finals as well, while Sheoran failed to do so.

Women’s 10m Air Pistol (Team):

Indian shooters keep on gunning the medals down as the Indian trio of Esha Singh, Palak and Divya Thadigol Subbaraju clinch the silver medal in the women’s 10m air pistol team event.

India scored a total of 1731 points, five behind China who took home the gold with a new Games Record of 1736 points.

Esha (579 points) and Palak (577 points) finished fifth and seventh, respectively and secured themselves qualification to the individual finals, while Divya (575 points), who finished 10th, could not do so.

Tennis Men’s Doubles Final: 

Despite their best efforts, the Indian duo of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni fell to their Chinese Taipei opponents, thereby settling for the Silver in the Men’s Doubles event.

The duo fell to their opponents in two straight sets of 6-4, 6-4.

Women’s 10m Air Pistol FINAL:

The Indian duo of Palak and Esha Singh rose head-and-shoulders above the rest of the competition as they clinched both the Gold and Silver respectively at the individual finals.

17-year-old Palak finished with a score of 242.1 while 18-year-old Esha ended her event with a score of 239.7 in a nail-biter of a showdown between the two young guns.

Squash (Women’s):

The trio of Tanvi Khanna, Anahat Singh and Joshana Chinappa fought valiantly against Hong Kong in a 3-0 defeat, but still brought home the Bronze for India.

Khanna lost the initial set 0-3, whilst the experienced Chinappa battled it out against Ho Tze Lok to clinch a 3-2 victory. But, in an epic showdown, where Singh almost came back twice, Hong Kong’s Lee just had the edge and clinched the tie 3-0.

On the other hand, the men’s team beat defending champions Malaysia 2-0, Saurav Ghosal and Abhay Singh did the trick, setting up a re-match against Pakistan for the gold medal after the Pakistan team had beaten India in the Pool A group game.

Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions FINAL:

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar carried his impeccable form into the finals and clinched himself and India yet another Silver in the 50m Rifle 3P event with a score of 459.7 points, falling short of China’s top shot Du by 0.9 points.

In a cruel twist of fate, Suresh Kushale, who was leading the event for the longest, fell just short of nabbing a Bronze for himself in the elimination stages.

FOLLOW THE LATEST UPDATES HERE: Asian Games 2023: Medal Tally,  Schedule, Results, Date, Venues & More

Athletics: Shot Put (Bronze)

Kiran Baliyan added an eighth medal on Day 6, winning a bronze medal in the women’s Shot Put event with a throw of 17.36m. Athletics events got underway on September 29, and India got a medal to celebrate to kick-start their track and field proceedings.

Badminton:

In Badminton, the women’s team suffered a 0-3 reverse and were eliminated whereas the men’s team comprising of Lakshya Sen, Manjunath and Kidambi Srikanth beat Nepal 3-0 to reach the semifinals, assuring a historic medal in men’s team event at Asiads after 37 years.

Hockey:

The Indian women’s hockey team defeated beat Malaysia 6-0 in their Pool A contest.

MEDAL STANDING FOR INDIA:

These respective wins bring India’s total tally at the Asian Games up to 33 medals, consisting of  8 Golds, 12 Silvers, and 13 Bronze. India are currently 4th in the medals tally in the Asian Games.