Day 3 wrap: Cricket delivers gold, badminton and wushu shine
India finally opened its gold-medal account on Day 3 as Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma led the women’s cricket team to another Asian Games title, while Lakshya Sen and Roshibina Devi assured medals in badminton and wushu.
India finally had its gold-medal moment on Tuesday, with the women’s cricket team beating Sri Lanka by 147 runs to retain the title it won at Hangzhou. Mandhana’s 79, Shafali Verma’s all-round contribution and Deepti Sharma’s three-wicket haul powered India to a dominant victory, while Richa Ghosh’s unbeaten 49 provided the late flourish.
The gold took India’s medal tally to seven and ended the wait for the top prize at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. Earlier, India’s shooters had dominated the opening two days, but Tuesday brought a broader spread of results, with medals assured in badminton and wushu and strong performances from the hockey and boxing teams.
Lakshya Sen produced one of the day's standout comebacks against Japan’s Kodai Naraoka before Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty and Ayush Shetty completed a 3-0 quarterfinal victory. The result assured India of a medal in the men's team event, while Roshibina Devi continued her remarkable Asian Games record by reaching the women's 60kg Sanda semifinals.
There were also commanding performances from India's men's hockey team and boxers Sakshi Chaudhary and Jadumani Singh. At the same time, the day brought disappointment in table tennis, shooting and women's badminton, ensuring that India's third day at the Games was not without its share of setbacks.
Pranati Nayak, India's lone gymnast at the Asian Games, added another positive result by qualifying for the vault final, while the men's kabaddi team and eFootball pair also made progress in their respective campaigns.CRICKET DELIVERS INDIA'S FIRST GOLD
India's women produced a clinical performance in the final against Sri Lanka, recovering from a relatively even start to post 216/3. Mandhana and Shafali put together a 99-run opening stand before Richa Ghosh's unbeaten 49 off 22 balls pushed the total beyond Sri Lanka's reach.
Mandhana's 79 also saw her become the first woman cricketer to reach 11,000 international runs. Shafali followed her batting effort with two wickets, while Deepti Sharma claimed three as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 69.
The 147-run win meant India successfully defended the gold won in Hangzhou in 2023. Sri Lanka once again finished runners-up, with India adding the first gold to a medal tally that had previously consisted of silver and bronze.LAKSHYA LEADS BADMINTON CHARGE
The men's badminton team delivered when it mattered most against hosts Japan.
Lakshya Sen appeared to be heading towards defeat after losing the opening game and trailing 14-19 in the decider against world No. 7 Kodai Naraoka. Instead, he reeled off seven straight points to complete an 11-21, 21-5, 21-19 comeback.
Satwik and Chirag then defeated Hoki Takuro and Kobayashi Yugo 21-18, 24-22 before Ayush Shetty beat Koki Watanabe 21-10, 21-19 to seal the 3-0 victory.
The result came after the women's team had been eliminated by Japan earlier in the day. PV Sindhu, Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma lost their singles matches, while Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand secured India's lone win.ROSHIBINA ASSURES ANOTHER MEDAL
Roshibina Devi moved into the semifinals of the women's 60kg Sanda event after beating Macau's Chu Man Sin on point difference.
The result guarantees Roshibina a third successive Asian Games medal. She had won bronze at Jakarta in 2018 before claiming silver at Hangzhou three years ago.
India's other wushu competitors had mixed fortunes. Hanjabam Langlentombi Devi finished ninth in the women's Nanquan and Nandao final, while Aryan lost 1-2 to Uzbekistan's Saydullo Aburashitov in the men's 56kg quarterfinal.HOCKEY ROLLS ON, BOXING IMPRESSES
India's men's hockey team continued its emphatic start with a 16-1 win over Sri Lanka. Jugraj Singh scored four times, while Abhishek and Dilpreet Singh completed hat-tricks as India followed its 13-1 victory over Indonesia.
Sri Lanka's Suresh Rathnayake did create a small piece of history by scoring their first-ever Asian Games goal against India. Harmanpreet Singh's team will next face South Korea.
In boxing, Sakshi Chaudhary defeated Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aira Villegas 5-0 in the women's 51kg category, while Jadumani Singh registered another 5-0 win over Nepal's Chandra Bahadur Thapa.
Sakshi will next face reigning world champion Alua Balkibekova, while Jadumani has Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Carlo Paalam waiting in the round of 16.SHOOTING, TABLE TENNIS BRING SETBACKS
It was a quieter day for the shooting contingent after its medal rush earlier in the Games. Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane finished fourth in the 10m air rifle mixed team final despite entering it as the second-ranked pair from qualification.
Anantjeet Singh Naruka, however, remained firmly in contention in men's skeet after moving into a four-way tie for the lead following four rounds.
Table tennis produced contrasting results. The women's team first defeated Thailand 3-2 to reach the quarterfinals but then lost 0-3 to North Korea, while the men's team exited after a 0-3 defeat to South Korea.
Pranati Nayak provided another positive result by qualifying seventh for the women's vault final with a score of 12.916. Jay Meena also reached the soft tennis men's singles quarterfinals, while India's men's kabaddi team defeated South Korea 63-31.
