India's Mixed Fortunes at the Asian Games: Shooting Triumphs and Badminton Upsets

Shooting Success and Badminton Disappointment

Nagoya: Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet have finally brought home a long-awaited gold in shooting, while long-distance runner Gulveer Singh shone with a silver in the 10,000m event. However, the early exit of badminton duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty from the men's doubles competition was a significant setback for India at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Friday.

The pair of Suruchi and Kamaljeet achieved a remarkable score of 484.6, setting both a Games and Asian record, dominating their event from the outset. Suruchi contributed 245.7 points, while Kamaljeet added 238.9 to their total.

This victory has boosted the morale of India's shooting team, which had faced disappointment earlier by not securing gold in the 10m air rifle and finishing without medals in the individual and team events for both men and women in the 10m air pistol competitions.

Their gold medal could serve as a turning point for the shooting team as they continue in the competition.

Additionally, the men's team in the 50m rifle 3-position event, consisting of Aishwary Pratap Singh, Rudrankksh Patil, and Niraj Kumar, secured a silver medal. They were in contention for gold for most of the event but were ultimately surpassed by China, finishing with a total of 1762 points, just four behind China's 1766.

In track and field, Gulveer improved upon his bronze medal from the 2023 Hangzhou edition, earning silver with a time of 28:29.38 seconds.

With bronze medals from shot-putter Manpreet Kaur and the mixed table tennis team of Diya Chitale and Manush Shah, India's medal tally rose to 22.

For Manpreet, this marked her first major international medal since 2023, as she secured third place with a throw of 17.17m.

Aishwary and Niraj also reached the individual finals, finishing in third and fourth places, respectively, but did not win medals.

The women's hockey team maintained its strong performance, defeating hosts Japan 3-1, effectively securing a spot in the semifinals.

While shooting saw a resurgence, badminton delivered a major shock as former world No. 1s Satwik and Chirag faced an unexpected early exit from a competition they were favored to win.

In a challenging three-game match against Thailand's Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun, the Indian pair lost 21-12, 19-21, 14-21 after a grueling one hour and eight minutes.

Satwik later reflected on the defeat, stating, "It’s the mental part. Whenever we are mentally free, I think no one can beat us. But when we are stuck anywhere, we give opponents a chance to beat us," though he struggled to pinpoint a clear reason for their loss.

Celebrations in Kabaddi and Table Tennis

Bronze in TT; Kabaddi, squash march

Despite the disappointment in badminton, India celebrated successes in other sports, with both the men's and women's kabaddi teams advancing to the finals after victories over Thailand and Nepal.

In table tennis, Manush Shah and Diya Chitale secured a bronze in mixed doubles, although they were defeated 0-4 by the Chinese duo of Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin in the semifinals.

In squash, Indian players guaranteed themselves three medals as Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar reached the mixed doubles semifinals, while Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh progressed to the singles semifinals.

Joshna, competing in her record seventh Asian Games, and Senthilkumar began their winning streak with an 11-3, 11-5 victory over the Philippines' David Pelino and Jemyca Aribado in the mixed doubles quarterfinals.

Anahat, a junior world champion and medal favorite, easily defeated compatriot Tanvi Khanna 11-2, 11-5, 11-3 in the women's singles quarterfinals, keeping her Olympic dreams alive.

Next, Anahat will face world No. 6 Satomi Watanabe, a bronze medalist from Hangzhou.

Abhay also advanced, defeating local favorite Ryonosuke Tsukue 11-4, 11-3, 11-6, setting up a semifinal match against Pakistan's Irfan Muhammad, who overcame Veer Chotrani. The gold medalists in both men's and women's singles will qualify directly for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where squash will debut.

Mixed Results in Badminton and Boxing

Mixed results in badminton, Boxing

Despite the heartbreak of Satwik and Chirag's exit, India found some success in badminton.

In women's doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand fought hard to progress, defeating Hong Kong's Hiu Yan Tsang and Lok Lok Lui 21-16, 16-21, 21-16 in a thrilling three-game match.

The mixed pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila also advanced to the quarterfinals with consecutive wins.

They began with a comfortable 21-8, 21-7 victory over Maldives' Nibal Ahmed and Aminath Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq, followed by a tough 22-20, 24-22 win against Malaysia's Shevon Jemie Lai and Soon Huat Goh.

In boxing, Sachin Siwach advanced to the men's 60kg quarterfinals with a narrow 4-1 victory over Jordan's Mohammad Adnan Abu Jajeh. However, last edition's bronze medalist Preeti Pawar faced elimination after losing 0-5 to North Korea's reigning Asian Games champion Pang Chol M in the women's 54kg round of 16.

Fencing Setbacks

No hope in fencing

India faced a double setback in fencing, with both the men's foil and women's epee teams eliminated in the round of 16.

The men's foil team lost 27-45 to Hong Kong, while the women's epee team fell 29-45 to Uzbekistan.