Nagoya/New Delhi, Sept. 23 -- Mirabai Chanu finally ended her long wait for an Asian Games medal, winning silver in the women's 49kg weightlifting event as India enjoyed a mixed day at the continental Games on Wednesday. The shooting contingent added two bronze medals in skeet, while the men's badminton team also finished third after losing to China in the semifinals.
Chanu, 32, lifted a total of 198kg, including 88kg in snatch and 111kg in clean and jerk, to claim second place. The medal came after she had missed out on an Asiad medal in her previous appearances since 2014. It was also India's first Asian Games weightlifting medal since Karnam Malleswari's silver in 1998.
The Tokyo Olympic silver medallist, who has built a decorated career at the international level, described the moment as one that made her "life complete".
Shooting produced contrasting results. Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, Suruchi Singh and Esha Singh failed to win medals in either the women's 10m air pistol team or individual events. Bhaker was the only Indian to reach the individual final, where she finished fifth. She later spoke about the emotional toll following the death of her childhood coach Jaspal Rana in June.
India salvaged two bronze medals in skeet. Raiza Dhillon, Maheshwari Chauhan and Parinaaz Dhaliwal combined for 331 points to finish third in the women's team event behind China and Kazakhstan. Raiza and Parinaaz reached the individual final but missed the podium. In the men's event, Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill secured bronze with 346 points. Naruka reached the individual final and finished fourth. India also secured a bronze through soft tennis player Jay Meena, who became the country's first Asian Games medallist in the sport. Meena had failed to win a medal in the previous two editions.
The men's badminton team, silver medallists at Hangzhou in 2023, lost 1-3 to China in the semifinals. Lakshya Sen went down 16-21, 18-21 to Shi Yu Qi, while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated world champions Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20. Ayush Shetty and the second doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun lost their matches.
In table tennis, Diya Chitale and Manush Shah advanced to the mixed doubles quarterfinals with a 3-0 win over Moosa Ahmed and Aishath Nazeem. They will face Hong Kong's Doo Hoi Kim and Wong Chun Ting on Thursday, with a win assuring a medal. In squash, Abhay Singh, Veer Chotrani and Tanvi Khanna moved into the round of 16 with comfortable victories.
India also stayed unbeaten in women's hockey, with Deepika Sehrawat scoring a record nine goals in a 20-1 win over Thailand. The men's and women's kabaddi teams also registered comprehensive group-stage victories over Bangladesh and Iran respectively. Roshibina Devi Naorem entered the women's 60kg wushu final after beating Indonesia's Thania Kusumaningtyas 2-0. She will face China's Xiaoyu Zhang in the gold-medal bout.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.