India’s campaign had a happy feel to it on Day 3 of the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, with the contingent opening its gold account as action played out across cricket, hockey, badminton, table tennis, shooting, boxing, wushu, karate and swimming. It was a day of contrasting fortunes for India, even as two more guaranteed medals were secured in other disciplines.
India claimed their first gold of the Games as the women’s cricket team routed Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final. Smriti Mandhana’s 79 lifted India to 216 for 3 in the first innings, before Deepti Sharma picked up three wickets in the second to seal a dominant title defence for Harmanpreet Kaur’s side. (AP Photo)
India’s team sports kept up their unbeaten run. The men’s hockey team, led by Harmanpreet Singh, thrashed Sri Lanka 16-1 to make it two wins from two matches in the group stage, while the men’s kabaddi team beat Korea 63-31 to remain perfect in their title defence, continuing a strong start to the campaign. (Hockey India)
India secured two more guaranteed medals on Day 3. In wushu, Roshibina Devi advanced to the medal rounds with a win over Macao’s Man Sin Chu, while in badminton, Ayush Shetty’s 2-0 win over Japan’s Koki Watanabe sent the men’s team into the semi-finals, confirming a podium finish in the event. (Picture credit: BAI Media)
It was a mixed day across other disciplines. Women’s table tennis edged past Thailand 3-2 to reach the quarter-finals, though the men’s team fell 0-3 to Korea. In badminton, the women’s team lost 1-3 to Japan in the quarter-finals, with PV Sindhu beaten by Akane Yamaguchi. The shooting duo of Parth Mane and Elavenil Valarivan also missed a medal, finishing fourth in the mixed team final. (PTI Photo)
China maintained their overwhelming lead at the top of the standings, adding nine more golds to move to 32 gold, 13 silver and eight bronze for a total of 53 medals. The two-time defending champions continued to dominate across disciplines, extending their advantage over Japan, who remained second on the table.
(AP Photo)
India’s maiden gold lifted the contingent to eighth on the table, with a tally of one gold, four silver and two bronze. Hosts Japan strengthened their position in second place with 11 gold, 16 silver and 19 bronze for 46 medals overall, while South Korea held on to third with six gold, four silver and 17 bronze for 27 medals.
(Asian Games)
