At Hangzhou, India inch closer to dream three-figure mark

Indiawas dealta major blow after PV Sindhu crashed out of the women’ssingles badminton quarterfinals

- RIDIB BAPARNASH

India’s medal tally surged to an unprecedented 86 with the addition of three gold, a silver and a bronze on Day 12 of the ongoing 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.

India, however, were dealt a major blow after two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu crashed out of the women’s singles badminton quarterfinals. The Hyderabadi lost in straight games to China’s He Bingjiao 16-21, 12-21 in what turned out to be a rather lopsided affair. In men’s singles, HS Prannoy assured his first Asiad medal by storming into the semifinals. He defeated former world No. 2 Lee Zii Jia in the quarterfinals.

Wrestling: Rising sensation Antim Panghal continued her impressive outing on the international stage by picking a bronze medal to open India’s account in women’s freestyle wrestling. Antim defeated Mongolia’s Bolortuya Bat-Ochir, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics bronze medallist, 3-1 in the 53kg bronze medal bout to earn her third international senior medal and fourth overall.

The bout turned out a lowscoring one against the strong Mongolian, with Antim grabbing a healthy 3-0 lead in the first period. A passivity point followed by a 2-point takedown helped Antim gain the points and her bronze on Asiad debut.

Antim, fresh from winning a bronze at the world championships in Serbia last month, faced a challenging draw at the Hangzhou Games, and was up against two-time world champion Akari Fujinami in the second round which the Japanese won by effecting a ‘fall’.