Asian Games Day 8: Anahat Singh wins historic silver, athletics stars shine in Nagoya

INDIA’S ATHLETES LIGHT UP NAGOYA

Athletics provided India with a spectacular run of results. Ancy Sojan won silver in the women’s long jump with a best effort of 6.53m, missing gold by just two centimetres. Shaili Singh, who was also in medal contention, finished fourth with 6.42m.

Sarvesh Kushare added another silver in the men’s high jump after clearing 2.25m. He finished behind the gold medallist on countback, extending his excellent run after his Commonwealth Games silver earlier this year.

Parul Chaudhary then produced one of the performances of the day. Running just a day after competing in the 1500m final, she clocked 9:08.67 to win bronze in the women’s 3000m steeplechase. The time was a new national record, bettering her previous mark of 9:12.46, and made her the first Indian woman to break the 9:10 barrier in the event. Ankita finished fourth in a personal best of 9:19.24.

Tejaswin Shankar completed his decathlon with 7,934 points to claim bronze. His medal came after a demanding two-day programme, with the Indian producing a strong finish in the concluding 1500m.

Harita Bhadra also made the podium in the women’s 200m, taking bronze in 23.20 seconds.

There were some near-misses. Nandhini Kongan finished sixth in the 100m hurdles, while Manju Rani was sixth in the women’s marathon race walk. Priyanka Goswami was disqualified, while J Aadarsh Ram also missed out on a medal in the high jump.

ANAHAT GOES DOWN IN FINAL, MISSES OLYMPIC BERTH

India had two chances to win squash gold, but both Abhay Singh and Anahat Singh had to settle for silver.

Abhay was beaten 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 by Malaysia’s Ng Eain Yow in the men’s singles final. The Indian stayed close in the opening game and led 5-3 in the third, but an eight-point run from Ng turned the contest decisively in Malaysia’s favour.

Anahat, meanwhile, faced defending Asian Games champion Sivasangari Subramaniam and lost 11-4, 11-4, 11-7. The teenager had produced a remarkable comeback from 0-2 down in her semi-final against Japan’s Satomi Watanabe, saving two match points to reach the final, but could not reproduce that comeback against the Malaysian top seed.

Earlier, the World No. 17 had scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to reach an Asian Games squash final.

The defeat also meant Anahat missed out on the quota place for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, where squash will make its Olympic debut.

“Yeah, definitely not happy with the colour of the medal, and I don’t think I played my best game today,” Anahat said. “But Siva was on fire today — she played really, really well. Hopefully, I’ll have a few other chances next time. There are other ways to make it to the Olympics, and hopefully I can make it through those.”

BADMINTON FALTERS AMID SCHEDULING CONTROVERSY

Badminton ended its individual competition on a disappointing note for India. PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda lost their women’s singles quarter-finals, while Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto also bowed out at the same stage.

Sindhu lost 21-11, 18-21, 10-21 to China’s Chen Yufei after making a strong start. Unnati went down to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, while Treesa-Gayatri lost to Malaysia’s Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan. Kapila and Crasto were beaten by China’s Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dongping.

The results meant India finished the Asian Games without an individual badminton medal for the first time since 2014. India had won three medals at Hangzhou — Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s historic men’s doubles gold, HS Prannoy’s singles bronze and the men’s team silver. This time, the men’s team secured bronze, but no individual player or pair reached the semi-finals.

The schedule became a major talking point alongside the results. Sindhu played three singles matches within 24 hours, with her third-round match against Tomoka Miyazaki beginning at 12:07am on Sunday before she returned for her quarter-final against Chen. Sindhu said the scheduling was “not really well organised” and pointed to the lack of recovery time.

HS Prannoy had also criticised the arrangements, raising concerns over long travel, accommodation and the lack of recovery time. The schedule saw some singles players play two matches in a day, while quarter-finals followed rapidly. Chinese women’s doubles World No. 1 Tan Ning also publicly questioned the schedule and said players had attempted to complain about it.

For India, however, the controversy could not hide the fact that the individual campaign had ended without a medal.

BOXING ASSURES THREE MEDALS

India enjoyed a strong day in the boxing ring on September 27, with Ankush, Parveen and Narender all winning their quarter-finals to secure medals at the Asian Games.

Ankush produced a composed performance in the men’s 80kg quarter-final, defeating Tajikistan’s Nekruz Salimov 5-0 in a unanimous decision. The Indian controlled the bout with his movement and clean combinations, winning on all five judges’ scorecards. The victory took Ankush into the semi-finals and assured India of a medal in the category.

Parveen then continued India’s winning run in the women’s 65kg quarter-final. She beat Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor Khamidova 5-0, securing another unanimous-decision victory. Parveen, who had received a bye in the previous round, used her reach and counter-punching effectively to dominate the contest and book her place in the last four.

Narender completed the hat-trick of Indian quarter-final victories in the men’s 90+kg category. He defeated Thailand’s Adthapong Saengtep to confirm another medal for India. Narender’s power proved decisive as he forced multiple standing counts before the referee stopped the contest.

There was disappointment earlier in the day, however, as Sachin Siwach lost his men’s 60kg quarter-final to Japan’s Shunsuke Kitamoto. Sachin went down 0-5, ending his medal campaign.

SHOOTERS KEEP INDIA AFLOAT IN QUALIFICATION

Shooting remained a work in progress on Sunday, with the major finals still to come in several events.

Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rahi Sarnobat combined for 815 points with 20 inner tens in the women’s 25m pistol team precision qualification. In the individual precision standings, Esha was the highest-placed Indian in sixth with 290 points. Rahi was 15th with 287, while Manu was 16th with 287.

The event continues on September 28 with the rapid stage, followed by the final, keeping all three Indians in contention.

In women’s trap qualification, Neeru finished the opening day in first place, while Aashima Ahlawat was 16th and Manisha Keer 24th. In men’s trap, Kynan Chenai was 11th, Shapath Bharadwaj 22nd and Ahvar Rizvi 35th after Day 1.

The trap qualification will continue before the final stages later in the competition.

Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rahi Sarnobat helped India to a 815-20x in the women’s 25m pistol team precision event.
In the individual event of women’s 25m pistol, Esha finished sixth with 290 points. Rahi Sarnobat was 15th with 287 points, while Manu Bhaker finished 16th with 287 points.
Neeru is first, Aashima Ahlawat 16th and Manisha Keer 24th after Day 1 of women’s trap qualification.
Kynan Chenai is 11th, Shapath Bharadwaj 22nd and Ahvar Rizvi 35th after Day 1 of men’s trap qualification.

MEDALS WON

Athletics: Ancy Sojan won silver in the women’s long jump, while Shaili Singh finished fourth.
Squash: Abhay Singh lost to Malaysia’s Ng Eain Yow in the men’s singles final to win silver.
Squash: Anahat Singh lost to Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam in the women’s singles final to win silver.
Athletics: Sarvesh Kushare won silver in the men’s high jump, clearing 2.25m.
Athletics: Parul Chaudhary won bronze in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, clocking 9:08.67, while Ankita finished fourth.
Athletics: Tejaswin Shankar won bronze in the decathlon with 7,934 points.
Athletics: Harita Bhadra won bronze in the women’s 200m.
Boxing: Ankush beat Tajikistan’s Nekruz Salimov in men’s 80kg quarterfinal, confirms medal
Boxing: Parveen beat Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor Khamidova in women’s 65kg quarterfinal, confirms medal
Boxing: Narender beat Thailand’s Adthapong Saengtep in men’s 90+kg quarterfinal, confirms medal

MISSED MEDALS / KEY RESULTS

Badminton: PV Sindhu lost to China’s Chen Yufei in the women’s singles quarterfinal.
Badminton: Unnati Hooda lost to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the women’s singles quarterfinal.
Badminton: Tanisha Crasto/Dhruv Kapila lost to China’s Huang Dongping/Feng Yan Zhe in the mixed doubles quarterfinal.
Badminton: Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly lost to Malaysia’s Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan in the women’s doubles quarterfinal.
Athletics: Nandhini Kongan finished sixth in the women’s 100m hurdles final.
Athletics: Manju Rani finished sixth in the women’s marathon race walk; Priyanka Goswami was disqualified.
Weightlifting: Harjinder Kaur finished ninth in the women’s 69kg event.
Fencing: India lost to Uzbekistan in the women’s team sabre quarterfinal.
Boxing: Sachin Siwach lost to Japan’s Shunsuke Kitamoto in the men’s 60kg quarterfinal.
Equestrian: Hriday Chheda finished eighth and Jai Sud ninth in the individual dressage final.
Sepaktakraw: India lost to South Korea and the Philippines in women’s doubles Group B.