Medals continue to pour in for India on Day 8 of the Hangzhou Asian Games. The Indian men’s badminton team and Aditi Ashok scripted Asian Games history.

India on Day 8

Athletics headlined the success as India bagged 15 medals – three gold, seven silver and five bronze – on the 8th day of the Hangzhou Asian Games. This is India’s highest single day medal win at any edition of the Asian Games till date.

Aditi Ashok grabbed a silver to kickoff the day’s medal rush. She became the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Asian Games golf tournament. Aditi had a seven-shot lead ahead of the final round. However, she hit four bogeys and a double bogey, ultimately losing the gold medal by two shots to Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol. 

In Shooting, Kynan Darius Chenai, Joravar Singh Sandhu and Prithviraj Tondaiman scored 361 points in the Men’s Trap Team event to clinch the Asian Games gold medal. Chenai also bagged the bronze medal in the Men’s Trap Individual final after a score of 32. The women’s team of Rajeshwari Kumari, Manisha Keer and Preeti Rajak, however, lost the final tom China and settled for the silver medal. India’s shooting contingent had a terrific run throughout and finished their campaign with 22 medals, the most in Shooting for India in an Asian Games edition.

Two-time world champion, Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen lost on points against Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat in the Women’s 50kg semi-final. Nikhat had to settle for a bronze medal in her Asian Games debut.

On the day when India’s most successful Asian Games athlete, P T Usha, arrived at Hangzhou to support her country’s athletes, the first gold medal in Athletics at this edition was won by Avinash Sable in Men’s 3000m Steeplechase. Sable chased and clinched the gold with a timing of 8:19:50s to break the Games record along the way.

In the meantime, Asian record holder, Tajinder Pal Singh Toor,, clinched another gold for the country in Men’s Shot Put. He became the 4th Indian after Parduman Singh Brar, Joginder Singh, Bahadur Singh Chouhan to defend his Asian Games gold with a throw of 20.36m in his last attempt.

Athletics medals kept coming in for India on day 8. Harmilan Bains, Ajay Kumar Saroj and Jinson Johnson added to the glory. Harmilan won silver in Women’s 1500m by finishing the race with a timing of 4:12.74s. Saroj and Johnson took silver and bronze respectively as a double delight in Men’s 1500m. Saroj Managed 3:38.94s and Johnson registered 3:39.74s  in their event.

 

There were further actions on the track and field for the Indian athletes. In Women’s Heptathlon, Nandini Agasara clinched bronze with 5712 points. She won the final 800m Race to seal the third place ahead of compatriot Swapna Barman. India’s Mural Sreeshankar won silver in the Men’s Long Jump with his best jump of 8.19.

 

Seema Punia’s discus touched the bronze. The 40-year old Indian athlete performed a throw of 58.62m to settle for the bronze. Seema added one more to her rich haul of medals. She won gold at the Incheon Asian Games in 2014 and Jakarta edition in 2018. Punia also has four Commonwealth Games medals to her name.

 

India’s athletic campaign for the day ended with a dramatic silver medal win by Jyothi Yarraji. She clocked 12.91 seconds in the Women’s 100m hurdles final to finish third. Both Jyothi and Wu Yanni were under review for false starts. The race, meanwhile, continued without any disqualification but the post-race investigation disqualified Wu Yanni. She lost her silver medal and Jyothi’s bronze was upgraded to silver.

 

India’s final medal for the day came in Men’s Badminton when the team claimed their maiden silver medal at the Asian Games. It is only India’s second silver medal at the Asian Games, following PV Sindhu’s singles silver at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. India had previously won three men’s team bronze medals.

 

Highlights of Day 8

The Chinese Women’s Trap team of Li Qingnian, Wu Cuicui and Zhang Xinqiu set a new world record of 357 hits to win the gold medal. They led the final with an absolute advantage of 20 hits from the runners-up, Rajeshwari Kumari, Manisha Keer and Preeti Rajak.

Pandelela Rinong Pamg, an icon of Malaysian diving, paired with Nur Dhabitah Sabri scored 266.94 points to win bronze in the Women’s Synchronized 10m Platform final. Veteran Pamg has taken part in three Asian Games and participated in four Olympic Games since 2008. 

Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena won the first gold of the Games for the Philippines. the world No 2 set the Asian Games record with a clearance of 5.90 meters, 20 centimeters higher than the previous record.

World champion Feng Bin of China sealed her first-ever Asian Games title with 67.93m, surpassing the previous Games record of 66.18m. 

China retained Women’s 3×3 Basketball title at the Asian Games by crushing Mongolia 21-12. Japan thrashed Chinese Taipei 21-13 to take the bronze medal.

Medal Table as on October 1