Nagoya, Sep 27 (PTI) India came within a whisker of adding another gold medal to its tally at the Asian Games on Sunday, as Ancy Sojan and Sarvesh Kushare led their respective finals for long periods before settling for silver, while Parul Chaudhary and Harita Bhadra added bronzes to cap off a productive day in track and field.
Ancy appeared on course for the women’s long jump gold when she produced a best effort of 6.53m on her fifth attempt, but China’s Huang Yingying had the last word, responding with a 6.55m jump to snatch the top spot in the final.
The margin was just two centimetres, leaving Ancy with silver.
The disappointment was compounded by the fact that Shaili Singh also narrowly missed out on a medal. Shaili’s best effort of 6.42m was enough to put her in bronze-medal contention, but China’s Mengyi Tan produced a 6.46m jump to move ahead of her.
In the men’s high jump, Sarvesh Kushare also led for a good part of the competition before surrendering the advantage to Chinese Taipei’s Chao Hsuan-Fu.
Kushare and Chao were level at 2.25m, but the Indian failed to clear the height on his first attempt, while Chao went over on his first try. Kushare subsequently cleared 2.25m on his second attempt, but the earlier miss meant he slipped to second and had to settle for silver.
Parul, meanwhile, secured her second successive Asian Games bronze in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, bettering her previous mark with a personal best of 9:08.67.
Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi won gold, while Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto Tanui took silver in 9:06.82.
Earlier, Harita Bhadra added another athletics medal by finishing third in the women’s 200m final in 23.20 seconds. Singapore’s Shanti Pereira won gold in a season-best 22.78, with China’s Chen Yujie taking silver in 22.93.
Harita edged Japan's Ido Abigeirufuka, who finished fourth in 23.21, while India's Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland was sixth in 23.48.
With India’s track and field athletes producing four medals, the country now has 37 medals with four gold and 16 bronze.
Squash: Two silvers but no Olympic berth
There were high hopes from Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh to secure Olympic berths with gold-winning show in squash but the Indian players left with silver medals after straight-game defeats in both women’s and men’s singles finals.
Abhay Singh, ranked 24th in the world, was beaten 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 by defending champion Ng Eain Yow in 44 minutes. After a tightly contested opening game, the Malaysian controlled the tempo and length and repeatedly forced Abhay into difficult retrievals.
Abhay admitted that the Malaysian’s experience in major matches made a difference and said he would return to the drawing board, while stressing that another route to Olympic qualification remains available.
Anahat Singh, 18, also had to settle for silver after losing 4-11, 4-11, 7-11 to Malaysia’s world No. 5 and defending champion Sivasangari Subramaniam in 27 minutes.
The results extended India’s wait for an individual Asian Games squash gold. Saurav Ghosal had also finished with silver at the 2014 and 2023 editions.
Good day in ring
Away from athletics, Indian boxing had another strong day, with Parveen Hooda, Ankush Panghal and Narender Berwal storming into the semifinals and assuring the country of three more medals.
Parveen defeated Uzbekistan’s world championships silver medallist Navbakhor Khamidova 5-0 in the women’s 65kg quarterfinal. It was her first bout of the Games after receiving a walkover in the previous round.
Parveen, who has moved up from 57kg to 65kg following a 22-month suspension imposed by the International Testing Agency for a whereabouts failure, said she was gradually regaining her confidence after her long absence.
Ankush, making his Asian Games debut after winning Commonwealth Games gold last month in Glasgow, also prevailed 5-0 over Tajikistan’s Nekruz Salimov in the men’s 80kg quarterfinal.
Narender, who won bronze at the previous Asian Games, needed less than two minutes to advance in the +90kg category after forcing a referee stoppage against Thailand’s Adthapong Saengtep. The Indian’s heavy barrage resulted in three standing counts before the contest was stopped.
There were also high hopes from Commonwealth Games champion Sachin Siwach, who lost 0-5 to Japan’s Shunsuke Kitamoto in the men’s 60kg quarterfinal.
Individual badminton challenge ends
Indian badminton, meanwhile, ended its individual campaign without a medal. PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda bowed out in the women’s singles quarterfinals, losing to Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei and three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi respectively.
Sindhu, playing her third match in less than 24 hours, went down 21-11, 18-21, 10-21, while 19-year-old Hooda fought hard before losing 16-21, 21-14, 17-21.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand and the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also lost their quarterfinals.
India had won three badminton medals at Hangzhou, but this time the men’s team bronze was the only medal from the competition, with none of the individual pairs or players reaching the semifinals.
The Indian women’s hockey team also maintained its unbeaten run, thrashing Singapore 7-0 to top Pool B with five wins and book a semifinal against Korea. PTI
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