Asian Games and India: 2018
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Badminton
Knocked out in team quarterfinals
Biswajyoti Brahma, Shuttlers knocked out in team quarterfinals, August 21, 2018: The Times of India
PV Sindhu won her match but the rest faltered as the Indian shuttlers failed to put it across Japan and crashed out in the women’s team quarterfinals at the Asian Games. The Indian men’s team did no better, going down to Indonesia in the team quarterfinals later in the day.
Sindhu gave India a winning start in the first singles, beating Akane Yamaguchi in straight games in 44 minutes. The Indian, who enjoyed a 7-4 head-to-head advantage over the Japanese going into the match, was tested by her rival but she used her experience to prevail in the contest 21-18, 21-19.
India wasted the lead in the next match itself when their doubles pair of N Sikki Reddy and Arathi Sara Sunil went down tamely in the doubles 15-21, 6-21 in 34 minutes against Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota.
All hopes then rested on veteran Saina Nehwal to regain India’s lead, but she failed to deliver. After losing the first game in the match against Nozomi Okuhara 11-21, Sania made a spirited comeback taking the second game 25-23. But her rival ran away with the match in 71 minutes by taking the third game 21-16.
This was Saina’s second straight loss against Okuhara, who had beaten the Indian in the World Championships last year.
Sindhu later tied up with Ashwini Ponnappa in the fourth match, but failed to do much as Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi wrapped it up 21-13, 21-12 to dash India’s hopes. “They had a strong defence and had prepared well for this match. We tried hard, but it did not work out for us,” Sindhu said.
The men’s team also faced a similar fate as they went down against Indonesia 1-3, with HS Pannoy registering the lone victory for the Indians.
The Indians were caught on the wrong foot when their No. 1 player Kidambi Srikanth was stunned by Anthony Sinsuka 21-23, 22-20, 10-21 in just over an hour. The Indians failed to recover from that setback. They lost the next match, a doubles contest, by three games.
Prannoy delayed the inevitable by winning his tie against Jonatan Christie 21-15, 19-21, 21-19 but Indonesia sealed the issue by winning the doubles match that followed.
Bridge
The team
Sometimes listening to your doctor’s poker-faced advice is the best hand you can play. Just ask Finton Lewis.
Told to “simply waste your time” four years ago by his doctor, Lewis did just that – or probably, completely misread the message. Today, that sage advice has led to one of the most interesting stories at the Asian Games here at Jakarta.
Lewis, a retired 64-year-old school teacher from Mumbai had just recovered from colon cancer and his doctor advised him to “enjoy life to the fullest”. Not really sure what to do, the lover of mathematics turned to a deck of cards, and a sport that his brother had introduced him to nearly four decades earlier. That was it and at 64, a potential Asian Games medal winner was taking shape.
As the bridge event got underway at the Asian Games here on Tuesday, Lewis could not be blamed for concealing a quiet chuckle as he peered over his cards. “What a fantastic way to waste your time,” he must have thought.
Bridge was the Sudoku of a time before the 1990s. Till the advent of online games at the turn of the century, bridge was what your fathers played after officehours and you secretly wished you could learn, and join.
Today, Lewis and Team India are hoping to take bridge back into the mainstream here at Jakarta. A podium finish, a medal around their necks wouldn’t hurt either.
Lewis is part of an eclectic 24-strong Indian mix at Jakarta. The wife of a former union minister and a few septuagenarians are part of the group.
At 79, Rita Choksi is the oldest member of the Indian contingent, and is the ‘elder’ in a squad with an average age of well over 50. Three years Rita’s junior, 76-year-old Vasanti Shah has problem moving around, but that doesn’t deter her from giving her best in India’s bid at the Asiad.
Hema Deora, 67, is the wife of former petroleum minister Murali Deora, while among the ‘younger’ lot, the dashing Jaggy Shivdasani (60) wants to inspire youngsters to break his 42-yearold national record in the sport. 48-year-old Himani Khandelwal and husband Rajeev Khandelwal
(54) are simply happy to soak in the indescribable” feeling of representing India.
The players see the Jakarta experience as an opportunity to drive home the message that bridge is a mind sport and not just another a card game.
Most players rued the fact that India is not producing enough young bridge players unlike in countries in Europe or like China and Singapore.
“For many in India, bridge is cards and cards means gambling,” Shivdasani told TOI on Tuesday, “But in reality, it’s not so and that perception needs to change,” he said.
“There is a need to make youngsters aware of this sport and the governments should promote it,” said Hema Deora, who sponsors several teams in different bridge competitions.
Vasanti Shah said she played bridge since it helped her stay alert. “It’s a passion for me. I picked it up quite early from my father, and I can feel the difference it can make to me even at this age. It helps me stay alert.”
Lewis says he’s saddened to see limited knowledge of the game in the country. “I would love to see the game grow. Right now, the spectator interest is very low,” he lamented.
Shivdasani is the current record holder in Indian bridge, being the youngest-ever national winner at 18 years. “I was a teenager when I won the national championship. Even after 42 years, that record stands. I would love for it to be broken,” he said.
Gymnastics
‘Injured’ Dipa misses vault final
From: Biswajyoti Brahma, ‘Injured’ Dipa misses vault final, pulls out of team final, August 22, 2018: The Times of India
But Gymnast Will Take Part In Beam Final
Dipa Karmakar, who made an appearance in a multi-discipline event for the first time in two years, has pulled out of Wednesday’s women’s team final at the Asian Games after hurting her knee. Dipa hurt her right knee, on which she had undergone surgery for an injury, while landing during a practice session ahead of her participation in the women’s qualification for team and apparatus finals.
The injury did not allow the Indian to give her all in events on August 21, 2018 and she failed to qualify for the individual final in vault. Instead, her compatriots Budda Aruna Reddy and Pranati Nayak made the grade along with the team. The Tripura girl made it to the final in the individual beam event — not her forte — and will take part in that.
Hockey
August 21, 2018: The Times of India
The Indian hockey team started its campaign at the Asian Games on Monday here with a 17-0 mauling of hosts Indonesia in a Pool A men’s hockey match as the defending champions chose the contest to test their preparedness for tougher matches. India pumped in goals at will against the hapless hosts with Dilpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh and Simranjeet Singh scoring three apiece. Coach Harendra Singh later said the match helped India get used to the playing conditions in the tournament. “The score does not matter in this match as it was not about how many goals we scored. It helped us to read the pitch and the conditions. We also experimented with our game through
Men
August 21, 2018: The Times of India
The Indian hockey team started its campaign at the Asian Games on Monday here with a 17-0 mauling of hosts Indonesia in a Pool A men’s hockey match as the defending champions chose the contest to test their preparedness for tougher matches.
India pumped in goals at will against the hapless hosts with Dilpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh and Simranjeet Singh scoring three apiece
Women
August 22, 2018: The Times of India
A ruthless Indian women's hockey team today mauled lowly Kazakhstan 21-0 to notch up their second biggest win at the Asian Games here. Goals rained thick and fast in the Pool B match at the GBK Hockey Field with as many as 10 Indians out of 18, who took the field, entering their names in the scoresheet.
The Indians scored almost at will against the hapless Kazakhstan team but the scoreline missed their all-time Asian Games record of 22-0 by a goal. The Indian women's team had beaten Hong Kong 22-0 in the 1982 Asiad. Drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur, who had also scored a hat-trick in India's 8-0 thrashing of Indonesia in their opening match, top-scored again with four goals in the eighth, 36th, 44th and 52nd minutes.
Lalremsiami (9th, 19th, 29th), Navneet Kaur (11th, 12th and 49th) and Vandana Katariya (29th, 37th and 52nd) were the other three hat-trick scorers. Navjot Kaur (16th and 54th), Lilima Minz (38th and 44th), Neha Goyal (10th), Udita (34th), Deep Grace Ekka (43rd) and Monika (55th) were the other goal scorers for India in the completely lop-sided match with Kazakhstan defending all through.
India, who had won a bronze in the 2014 Asian Games, are currently ranked ninth while Kazakhstan are 34th in the latest FIH chart. India is the highest ranked team in the competition.
Kabaddi
August 22, 2018: The Times of India
The Indian men’s and women’s kabaddi teams secured emphatic wins to qualify for the semifinals of the Asian Games here on Tuesday. The men’s team, a seven-time goldmedallist, bounced back from the shock 23-24 defeat against South Korea to beat Thailand 49-30 in their fourth and final Group A match. They had beaten Bangladesh 50-21 and Sri Lanka 44-28 before losing to South Korea. In the women’s competition, India played two matches and emerged victorious in both to top Group A with an all-win record to qualify for the semifinals.
Rowing
Men’s quadruple sculls
August 20, 2018: The Times of India
Dushyant and men’s quadruple sculls team in finals:
Dushyant Chauhan and the Indian men's quadruple sculls team finished first in their respective heats to reach the finals of the rowing competition here on Monday. Dushyant clocked 7:43.08 to emerge the fastest in heat 1 and second overall behind South Korea's Hyunsu Park, who recorded 7:22.08. Starting off in lane 4, the quartet of Sawarn Singh, Dattu Baban Bhokanal, Om Prakash and Sukhmeet Singh qualified comfortably for the final, clocking 6:15.18 seconds. They finished the fastest overall.
Sepak takraw
August 20, 2018: The Times of India
India were assured of a maiden Asian Games medal in sepak takraw by progressing to the semifinals with a win over Iran, here. India defeated Iran 21-16, 19-21, 21- 17 in the first match to make a winning start to their campaign. They, however, lost to Indonesia 0-3 in the second match in men’s team Regu (team competition) Preliminary Group B but advanced to the last-four stage to be guaranteed of at least a bronze.
Shooting
Men’s trap: silver
LAKSHAY BAGS SILVER IN MEN’S TRAP, August 21, 2018: The Times of India
Young shooter Lakshay Sheoran punched above his weight to clinch a silver in the men’s trap competition at the Asian Games here on Monday. Lakshay, who came up the junior ranks to be in his first international year as a member of the senior squad, shot down 43 targets out of 50 in the final.
The 20-year-old had managed to hit 119 out of 125 targets in the qualification round. Lakshay jointly led after 16 shots in the final, but eventually lost to Chinese Taipei’s Kunpi Yang, who equalled the world record to emerge triumphant.
Rifle mixed team
August 20, 2018: The Times of India
India opened their account in the 18th Asian Games with a bronze medal after Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar cracked under pressure to finish third in the rifle mixed team shooting event. The Indians aggregated 429.9 after 42 shots in the 48-shot final and were in second spot for major part of the 48-shot finals before China overtook them to take the silver. The strong Chinese pairing of Ruozhu Zhao and Haoran Yang ended with a score of 492.5. Chinese Taipei’s Yingshin Lin and Shaochuan Lu claimed the gold, scoring 494.1.
It was a maiden Asian Games medal for Chandela, who will be aiming for a better colour medal in the 10m air rifle. Chandela is also a multiple time World Cup winner and had bagged gold at 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. World Cup bronze medallist Kumar, who is mentored by the great Abhinav Bindra, had won a men’s 10m rifle team bronze at last the edition at Incheon.
Tennis
Ramanathan, Raina advance to pre-quarterfinals:
Singles specialists, including second seed Ramkumar Ramanathan and Ankita Raina, made a smooth start to their campaign. Ramanathan won the first set 6-0 against Wong Hong Kit but was stretched by the Hong Kong player in the second set before getting past 7-6 (4) on tie-break in a round of 32 match. Prajnesh Gunneswaran had it easy against Indonesia Rifqi M Fitriadi, winning 6-2, 6-0 to progress to the last 16. Ankita Raina beat Beatrice Gumulya 6-2, 6-4 in a round of 32.
Wrestling
Women’s wrestling was introduced at the Games in 2002 in Busan.
Men’s 65kg
Biswajyoti Brahma, August 21, 2018: The Times of India
A list of Punia's top medals, 2013-18
From: Biswajyoti Brahma, August 21, 2018: The Times of India
Bajrang Punia , who had virtually faced no resistance in all his bouts till the final of the men’s 65kg category, was stretched till the end by Japan’s Takatani Daichi. The Indian survived some anxious moments to ultimately emerge the winner [gold].
Women’s 50kg: gold
Biswajyoti Brahma, August 21, 2018: The Times of India’'
Vinesh Phogat, from the Haryanvi stable of wrestling sisters of ‘Dangal’ fame, came up with a nearperfect game to clinch a historic gold, the first in for an Indian woman in wrestling in Asian Games. She outclassed Yuki Irie of Japan 8-2 in the 50kg category final.
It turned out to be a disappointing day for other Indian wrestlers as Pinki in failed to impress 53 kg category, while Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik (62kg), Pooja Dhanda (57kg) and Sumit (125kg) lost the chance to win bronze medals through repechage.
