Gold eludes India as shooters lead medal charge at Asian Games

Nagoya: India continued to add to its medal tally at the Asian Games on Monday, but the elusive gold remained out of reach as shooting once again produced the country's biggest haul of the day. India collected three medals at the shooting range - two silver and one bronze, taking its overall tally to six medals, comprising four silver and two bronze.

The day also brought a historic first in mixed martial arts, although Suchika Tariyal's bronze came with considerable disappointment after a narrow semifinal outcome denied her a place in the title clash. Tariyal's semifinal against Singapore's Hui Hoon Teo ended in a draw after a fiercely contested bout. However, the Indian weighed 700gm more than her opponent at the morning weigh-in, and under the technical rules, the lighter competitor advances when a bout ends level. Tariyal therefore had to settle for bronze, making her India's first ever Asian Games medallist in the sport.

Shooters add three medals
The shooting range once again proved productive for India, with Himanshu Dhillon and Rudrankksh Patil securing the individual silver and bronze medals respectively in the men's 10m air rifle. The duo also combined with 18-year-old Parth Mane to win a team silver, giving India three medals from the event. The results took India's shooting medal count to five - four silver and a bronze.

China once again dominated the event, with world number one Sheng Lihao leading his team to gold alongside Changhong Zhang and Sihan Ma. The Chinese trio accumulated 1899.0 points, bettering their own world record of 1898.4 set in Cairo last year.

Tariyal's historic bronze comes with heartbreak
Tariyal created history by becoming India's first Asian Games medallist in MMA in the traditional women's 60kg category. But the achievement was overshadowed by her disappointment after the semifinal. The 36-year-old from Kiloi village in Haryana's Rohtak district had fought her way through a career defined by versatility and adaptation.

Against Hui Hoon Teo on Monday, she gave everything in a closely fought contest but was denied a place in the final by the technical weight rule. After eventually regaining her composure, Tariyal acknowledged the significance of securing India's first MMA medal."This is more than my life. I will never forget that I came to Japan and got a medal for my country. I can now happily die," said Suchika

On the bright side, India produced several encouraging performances across other disciplines. The women's hockey team continued its impressive campaign with a commanding 17-1 victory over Indonesia. The result strengthened its pursuit of the gold medal, which could also secure a ticket to the 2028 Olympic Games, provided they snare the gold.

India's men's badminton team also progressed to the quarterfinals with a 3-0 victory over Bangladesh. Lakshya Sen, K Srikanth and Ayush Shetty won their respective singles matches comfortably, making the remaining doubles matches unnecessary in the five-match rubber. In boxing, Sumit Kundu (70kg) also began his campaign with a comfortable victory.

Both India's women's and men's table tennis teams advanced to the quarterfinals after identical 3-0 wins over Pakistan. The women's team recorded its third consecutive victory to top Group F, while the men's side bounced back with an equally emphatic 3-0 result. The Kabaddi teams, meanwhile, also began their campaigns with winning starts.

Swimming proved to be a contrasting story for India, with the campaign continuing to falter. Srihari Nataraj finished 10th in the 50m backstroke final, clocking 25.52 seconds. The two-time Olympian was slower than his 25.37-second effort in the heats earlier in the day and finished last in the final. Most of India's other swimmers also failed to progress beyond the heats, making it another difficult day in the pool.

India's campaign in soft tennis also suffered a setback as Aadhya Tiwari and Jay Meena were eliminated in the mixed doubles round of 16. The Indian pair pushed Philippines' Christy Sanosa and Sherwin Ray Nuguit in a hard-fought contest before going down 2-5.
The game scores were 4-2, 2-4, 2-4, 3-5, 2-4, 5-3, 6-8.

With four silver medals and two bronze medals, India continued its search for its first gold of the Asian Games, while shooting remained the country's biggest source of medals after another productive day at the range.
(With inputs from PTI)