New Delhi: India were already assured of 100-plus medals for the first time at the Asian Games. On Saturday, they took their tally to 107 – 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze.
India thus joined the ‘big league’ in Asia, becoming only the fourth nation – after China, Japan and South Korea – to aggregate over 100 medals in a single edition of the continental Games.
It was the final day of competition for the Indians, who picked up a rich haul of 6 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze on the penultimate day of the Hangzhou Games.
The archers started the gold rush with Praveen Ojas getting the better of Abhishek Verma in the all-Indian men’s compound final.
Jyothi Surekha outsmarted her South Korean rival to clinch gold in women’s compound event. It was her third gold of the Games, following top finishes in compound team event and compound mixed doubles.
The men’s cricket team didn’t get to bat in the rain-marred abandoned final, but Ruturaj Gaikwad’s men were declared champions due to their higher seeding.
It was then the turn of India’s kabaddi players to put their best foot forward.
The women’s team held their nerves in the crucial closing moments to edge out Chinese Taipei 26-25 in the final.
The men’s kabaddi final, however, saw bizarre drama before India finally emerged 33-29 winner against Iran.
The controversial final was suspended for about an hour with the scores tied at 28-all over a raid by Indian player Pawan Sehrawat. Iran, who had stunned India in the 2018 Asian Games kabaddi final, protested the referees’ decision to award 3 points to India.
The referee consulted the officials, replays were seen several times and decisions were changed more than once as both sets of players waited on court. Better sense failed finally and Iran accepted the decision.
Deepak Punia settled for silver after losing the men’s 86 kg freestyle wrestling final to Iran’s Hassan Yazdan, before the Indian men’s and women’s teams both earned silver medals in team chess.
The India women’s hockey team, which had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of China in the semis, redeemed themselves somewhat by beating Japan 2-1 to bag the bronze medal.
Another bronze was added to India’s tally courtesy of Aditi Gopichand, in women’s compound archery.
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