Javelin double, Gulveer, Sreeshankar silver lift India’s tally to 45

Asian Games Day 9

NEW DELHI, Sept 28: Two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra's absence was expected to leave a sizeable gap in India's javelin challenge, but Yashvir Singh and Rohit Yadav stepped up to deliver a double podium finish on Day 9 of the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday.

Yashvir produced a personal best of 85.72m for silver and Rohit threw 84.35m for bronze, while Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage took gold with 88.55m. The effort came close to India's one-two finish from Hangzhou 2023, when Chopra won gold and Kishore Jena silver.

India added eight medals on Monday - four silver and four bronze - to take their overall tally to 45, comprising four gold, 20 silver and 21 bronze.

Gulveer Singh was once again among the medals, winning his second silver in two days in the men's 1500m. Two days after finishing runner-up in the 10,000m, Gulveer clocked a personal best of 3:31.13. He led for much of the race before Japan's Kazuto Iizawa overtook him late and won gold in a new Asian Games record of 3:36.35. Another Japanese runner, Nagiya Mori, took bronze in 3:37.92. Yoonus Shah finished ninth.

Gulveer, who now has three Asian Games medals including a 10,000m bronze from Hangzhou, will be back in action in the 5000m on Tuesday.

Parul Chaudhary also claimed her second bronze in as many days. Less than 24 hours after finishing third in the 3000m steeplechase, the 31-year-old returned to the track and clocked 15:14.61 for another bronze in the women's 5000m.

Bahrain's Winfred Yavi completed her third gold of the Games in 15:10.18, with Japan's Nozomi Tanaka taking silver in 15:11.65. Seema, who had earlier won bronze in the 10,000m, finished sixth.

Sreeshankar Murali added another Asian Games silver to his collection with an 8.07m effort in the men's long jump, matching his finish from Hangzhou. The Indian injured himself on his fourth attempt and was forced to skip his final two jumps. China's Shi Yuhao won gold with a season-best 8.17m, while Uzbekistan's Anvar Anvarov took bronze at 8.06m. David Patturaj Solomon finished seventh.

In the women's 400m hurdles, Vithya Ramraj rewrote a 42-year-old national record to claim bronze. Her time of 54.75 seconds bettered PT Usha's previous mark from 1984 by 0.67 seconds.

It was Vithya's second medal of the Games after the mixed 4x400m relay silver and her fifth Asian Games medal overall. UAE's Mariam Kareem won gold in a Games record 54.31, while Kazakhstan's Adelina Zems took silver in 54.58. Anu Raghavan was fifth in a personal best of 55.88.

There was disappointment for two-time Olympian Avinash Sable as the defending champion finished fourth in the men's 3000m steeplechase. The 32-year-old clocked a season-best 8:21.67, with Japan's Ryuji Miura winning gold in a Games record 8:17.36. Miura's compatriot Ryoma Aoki took silver in 8:17.60 and Qatar's Zakaria Elahlaami bronze in 8:18.13.

Seema Kaliramna missed out on the women's discus podium despite a personal best of 59.88m. She finished fourth, while Sanya Yadav was eighth.

India's women's 4x100m relay quartet of Tamanna, Sneha Gowda, Sudeshna Shivankar and Abhinaya Rajarajan also finished fourth in a season-best 43.57 seconds, missing bronze by just 0.05.

Pooja advanced to the women's 800m final as the second-fastest non-automatic qualifier after clocking 2:03.20. Gowthami Jayaraman missed out after finishing ninth overall in 2:04.31.

Earlier in the day, shooter Esha Singh started India's medal haul with silver in the women's 25m pistol, finishing with 38 points after a dramatic final that went through multiple shoot-offs. The world No. 1 had to fight simply to stay in medal contention before eventually finishing second.

In the final shoot-off for gold, China's Xiao Jiaruixuan held her nerve better to claim the title. It was Esha's third Asian Games medal after she had won two silvers at Hangzhou in 2023.

Pincky Balhara later added bronze in the women's -78kg Kurash event after losing her semifinal 5-0 to South Korea's Sumin Mo. The medal was Balhara's second Asian Games podium finish and India's third Kurash medal at the Games.

India's boxing contingent continued its strong campaign, with three more pugilists securing medals on Monday. Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain advanced to the women's 75kg semifinals with a 5-0 win over South Korea's Suyeon Seong. Priya Ghanghas also progressed to the last four after a 5-0 victory over Tajikistan's Olympian Mijgona Samadova in the women's 60kg quarterfinal.

Kapil Pokhariya came up with a clincal 5-0 win over South Korea's Kim Gichae in the men's 90kg quarterfinal. He will face Uzbekistan's world champion Turabek Khabibullaev in the semifinals.

They joined Narender Berwal, Ankush Panghal and Parveen Hooda, who had already secured medals with their quarterfinal wins on Sunday.

The men's cricket team also progressed to the semifinals without taking the field. Their quarterfinal against Afghanistan was abandoned without a ball being bowled because of rain, with India advancing as the higher-ranked team under the tournament rules.

Pakistan similarly moved into the last four after their quarterfinal against Hong Kong was washed out. India will face the winner of Bangladesh and Malaysia in the semifinals, while Pakistan will take on the winner between Sri Lanka and Nepal.

(UNI)