Indian athletes have so far won 10 medals - three gold, three silver and four bronze medals in the Asian games in Jakarta. The gold winners are wrestler Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Saurabh Chaudhary. O n a day when veteran Sushil was knocked out in the first round of the wrestling competition, his countrymate salvaged India’s pride on the mat by winning the country’s first gold in this Asian Games on Sunday after a thrilling final.
Bajrang, 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. Bajrang had started the final on a confident note, racing to 6-0 lead in the first 45 seconds of the bout, raising prospects of yet another lopsided finish to the contest. But the Japanese fought back with four points in the next one minute and two more in the second round to level scores. Bajrang took four points to regain the lead but Daichi reduced the margin by claiming two more. With time running out, the Japanese went for a last-gasp winner but Bajrang held his nerve to clinch the thriller 11-8.
“I never thought of losing at any moment. The game is like that. We never let the pressure affect me. I kept my cool and gave my 100 per cent,” Bajrang said after the bout. Bajrang’s show followed somewhat a disappointing show by the Indian grapplers as Olympic medallist Sushil, Sandeep Tomar and Mausam Khatri all failed to win medals. Pawan Kumar too lost early, but got a chance to win a bronze through repechage when the wrestler who beat him reached the final. But he was outplayed by Uitumen Orgodol of Mongolia in the fight for bronze.
Sushil crashed out
Earler, Sushil crashed to one of the worst defeats of his illustrious career but vowed to continue participating in major international events in coming years. The 35-year-old lacked the agility and aggression, that won him a number of top medals over the years, during the 74kg category first round match against Adam Batirov of Bahrain on the opening day of the competition.
With a motley crowd cheering for the Indian, Sushil won the first two points of the bout and played a waiting game, hoping for his opponent to make a mistake. He conceded one point soon after but went to the break with a slight advantage. The complexion of the bout changed completely when Batirov claimed two back-to-back two points. Sushil tried to turn the match in his favour with a desperate last ditch effort, but it was too late.
Apurvi & Ravi bring home bronze
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.
Chandela, having won the first Games medal for the country, was satisfied with her performance.
“Our best finish together was fourth at the World Cup and we have improved on that. My first Asian Games medal and my first medal for India here. I am really happy about that but my focus is on main event (10m rifle) tomorrow,” Chandela said.
Asked about slipping to third from second in the elimination stage, Chandela added: “This happens in shooting. I think we shot alright.”
Kumar said, “This bronze has come only because of Apurvi. The final was a disappointment after a decent qualification. We didn’t get enough time to train together.”
After the first series, India were second with 102.9 while Korea led with 103.4. India remained in that position even after the third series but the Chinese improved drastically to steal the second spot.
There was disappointment in store for pistol mixed team of teen sensation Manu Bhaker and Abhishek Verma, who failed to qualify for the finals after being tied with Kazakhstan.
Vinesh win gold
Vinesh Phogat, from the Haryanvi stable of wrestling sisters of ‘Dangal’ fame, came up with a near perfect 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 here on Monday. Showing impressive skill and composure, Vinesh executed her game plan astutely, prompting double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, who was watching from the stands, term the bout a “lopsided contest.”
This was India’s second gold in the Asiad here, with the earlier one also coming in wrestling through Bajrang Punia on Sunday. It was a win Vinesh will cherish for long. The 23-year-old took her time to assess her opponent before surprising the Japanese with a swift move to collect four points with a leg-grab 90 seconds into the bout. She then went into a shell, giving no chances to her rival to fight back. Though she conceded two points, including one for passivity in the second round, she had enough in the bank to play it safe till the final whistle.
This was her second medal at the Asiad, having won a bronze in Incheon four years ago. Women’s wrestling was introduced at the Games in 2002 in Busan.
