Incheon: Indian rowers provided the spark with a couple of bronze medals, while the women shooters added another bronze as India maintained their 15th position in the overall standings with a tally of 15 medals in the 17th Asian Games.
Armyman Swaran Singh Virk rowed his way through exhaustion to the third spot in single sculls before the men's squad added the eights title on yet another mixed day for the Indian contingent. The double trap women's team of Shagun Chowdhary, Shreyasi Singh and Varsha Varman, brought some cheer for the largely off the mark shooters with their bronze medal on the sixth day of competitions.
India were assured of a silver in archery while the squash players were also assured of a bronze each in the men's and women's team events after making the semifinals. But it was heartbreak for the Indian men's hockey team which went down to arch-rivals Pakistan 1-2 in a group B encounter. The defeat has put India's chances of progressing to the next round in jeopardy.
In badminton, star shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap advanced to round of last and last 16 respectively but PV Sindhu bowed after losing in the preliminary stage.
Rowers were, however, the stars of today's proceedings for India. As the rowing events ended at the ChungjuTangeum Lake International Rowing Centre, India's modest tally of medals stood at three bronze, the first having been won on Wednesday by Dushyant Chauhan in men's lightweight single sculls.
Swaran Singh must be complimented for putting up a brave effort. The timing he clocked here to win the bronze covering the 2000m distance (7 minutes, 10.65 seconds), was better than his performance at the London Olympic Games two years ago timing wise (7:29.66). But the extra effort the 24-year-old former volleyball player put in towards the end when he tried to ward off the challenge from South Korean rival Kim Dongyong, who secured the silver, saw him collapse due to exhaustion. He fell off the boat into the water, and had to be taken out by the rescue team to the ambulance.
However, for the second successive day India drew a blank at the nearby Ongnyeon pistol and rifle range where hot shot Gagan Narang made his appearance and flopped individually as well as collectively with his team-mates in 50m rifle prone event. Pistol shooters Gurpreet Singh, Mahaveer Singh and seasoned Samaresh Jung too disappointed.
In archery, atleast another silver medal was assured after the trio of Abhishek Verma, Rajat Chauhan and Sandeep Kumar entered the final of the compound men's team archery event. The trio of Verma, Chauhan and Kumar defeated Iran, comprising Esmaeil Ebadi, Majid Gheidi and Amir Kazempour 231-227 in the semifinal at the Gyeyang Asiad Archery Field.
It was heartbreak for India in the women's compound women's team event as the trio of Trisha Deb, Purvasha Shinde and Jyothi Surekha Vennam lost to favourites Chinese Taipei in the semifinal. The Indian squash contingent, meanwhile, was assured of its best ever showing by reaching the men's and women's team semifinals, ensuring medals in all four categories on offer.
However in hockey, India wasted chances galore in their 1-2 defeat against arch-rivals and defending champions Pakistan in a keenly-contested Pool B match of the men's hockey competition. For Pakistan, Mohammed Umar Bhutta (38th minute) and Mohammed Waqas (54th minute) scored, while Nikkin Thimmaiah (53rd minute) netted the consolation goal.
On the badminton court, Saina sailed into the quarterfinals with a comfortable straight-game win while Kashyap advanced to the pre-quarters. World number seven Saina thrashed Iran's Soraya Aghaeihajiagha (2-0) 21-7 21-6 in a women's singles round of 16 match at the Gyeyang Gymnasium. Seeded sixth, Saina would be would up against no. 2 seed Wang Yihan of China.
However, world number 10 Sindhu suffered a shocking 1-2 reverse to Manuputty Bellaetrix, ranked 34th, despite taking the first game. Kashyap made the men's singles pre-quarters by registering a straight-game win over Afghanistan's Iqbal Ahmad Shekib.
Commonwealth Games silver-medallist L Devendro Singh (49kg) entered the prequarters after getting a walkover but Manoj Kumar (64kg) bowed out with an opening round loss on a mixed day for Indian boxers.
Indian tennis players Yuki Bhambri, Sanam Singh and Ankita Raina registered comfortable wins in their respective singles matches to sail into the pre-quarterfinals. All the three Indians were hardly tested by their opponents as they registered straight set wins without breaking a sweat at the Yeorumul Tennis Courts.
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