Day 3, Asian Games: 16 & 37-Year-Old Bag Gold and Silver for India

India’s 10th medal of these Asian Games has come in wrestling with Divya Kakran bagging the bronze in the 68 kg category.

Divya needed just 90 seconds out of the 6 minute bout to close out the win, opening a 10-0 lead over Chen Wenling of Chinese Taipei, enough to be awarded the victory by technical superiority.

India’s biggest medal hope in swimming, Virdhawal Khade has finished fourth in the men's 50m freestyle final. He missed the bronze by one-tenth of a second by clocking 22.47s while the third placed swimmer finished his race in 22.46s.

In the qualifiers, Khade clocked the third-fastest time of 22.43s, bettering his own mark of 22.52, set in August 2009 at Asian Age group swimming championships in Japan.

Khade had won a bronze at the Guangzhou Games in 2010.

The Men’s team has won India’s maiden Asian Games medal in Sepaktakraw. Despite losing the Men's Regu Team semi-final 2-0 to defending champions Thailand, India win a bronze as both the losing semifinalists are also awarded a medal.

India had defeated Iran 21-16, 19-21, 21- 17 in the first match to make a winning start to their campaign. They however lost to Indonesia 0-3 in the second Preliminary Group B match of the day but still advanced to the last-four stage.

India's mixed trap shooting team of Lakshay Sheoran and Shreyasi Singh are currently competing in the five-team final of the event.

The duo finished fifth with a total score of 142 in the qualification round, with Lakshay contributing 72 and Shreyasi scoring 70.

Lakshay, who won a silver in the men's trap event yesterday, shoots 4/5 to put India in joint-second place.

After getting knocked out in the quarter-final match, Divya Kakran has got a second chance at winning a medal, courtesy her opponent Tumentsetseg Sharkhuu of Mongolia reaching the final. The 20-year-old will be competing will now have a shot at the Bronze medal through repechage.

Kiran – who too lost her quarter-final 2-4 to Aiperi Medet Krzy of Krgyzthan – will not get a repechage opportunity after her opponent lost in the semis of the 77kg women’s freestyle category.

Among the men, Manish defeats Japan's Shimoyamada Tsuchika 7-3 in the Men's Greco-Roman 67kg event 1/8 Finals match. However, Gyanender loses 0-5 to Islomjon Bakhramov from Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals match of the Men's Greco-Roman 60kg category.

The Indian women's kabaddi team thrashed Indonesia 54-22 in their last group tie of the 2018 Asian Games to march into the semis.

After registering victories in all of their group games, the Indian team is now on top of Group A with eight points and has entered the semi-finals.

Earlier today, the Indian women had outclassed Sri Lanka 38-12.

He’s won a gold medal with an Asian Games record score in his very first big-ticket event but it’s Saurabh Chaudhary calm under severe pressure that seems to be winning him even more accolades.

Against three-time Olympic gold medallists and some senior stars, Saurabh shot near-perfect final round to finish on top of the podium. "I did not feel any pressure," said Chaudhary, who picked up the sport only three years ago.

Whenever he is home, he helps his father in the farming business. "I like farming. We don't get much time off from training but whenever I do, I go back to my Village (Kalina) and help my father," said Chaudhary.

37-year-old Sanjeev Rajput has had to settle for silver despite holding the lead for a majority of the 50m Rifle 3 Positions final.

A gold medallist from the 2018 Commonwealth Games earlier this year, Sanjeev finished second with a score of 452.7 behind Zicheng Hui (453.3) of China. Japan's Takayuki Matsumoto bagged the bronze with a score of 441.4.

This is Sanjeev’s fourth Asian Games medal.

Just three more shooters left and Sanjeev Rajput is at the second spot, ensuring India adds another medal on this Tuesday of the 18th Asian Games.

India has finished seventh in the ranking round of the women's recurve archery event.

The team of comprising Deepika Kumari, Laxmirani Majhi, Promila Daimary and Ankita Bhakat scored a cumulative total of 1908 with 55 10s and 16 Xs in the 15-team contest.

South Korea delivered a Games record score of 2038 with 112 10s and 35 Xs to top the round, while Chinese Taipei and China finished second and third with scores of 2010 and 1960 respectively.

In the individual ranking round, Deepika was 17th with a score of 649, with 22 10s and 10 Xs.

After the kneeling and prone rounds, Sanjeev has raced to the top spot in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions final with a score of 307.1. He holds a solid three point lead over second placed Yang Haoran of China.

There is now a 11 minute break on for the shooters to change their equipment and also their uniform for the next round.

Indian wrestkler Gyanender has beaten Wiratul Piyabut from Thailand 10-2 in the Men's Greco-Roman 60 kg category.

He is now in the quarter-finals.

After qualifying for the final of the 50m Rifle 3 Positions in seventh position, Indian shooter Sanjeev Rajput has climbed to the second spot after the first 15 shots.

Rajput is also definitely a medal favourite after bagging a gold in this event at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.

An Indian team has booked their berth in the third shooting final of the day as well. After winning a silver in the Men’s Trap event, 19-year-old Lakshay teamed up with Shreyasi Singh to qualify for the Trap Mixed Team event.

The Indian pair shot a total score of 142 to qualify for the final that will see five teams in action.

The final starts at 3pm IST.

Ankita Raina has registered her second successive victory and advanced to the quarter-finals of the women's single tennis event .

In her pre-quarter match, Ankita outclassed Japan's Eri Hozumi in straight sets -- 6-1, 6-2. The 25-year-old Indian will now meet Hong Kong's Eudice Chong at 9am IST on Wednesday.

Sanjeev Rajput qualifies for 50m Rifle 3 Positions final. He finished 7th in the qualification round with score of 1160.

All eyes will now be on Rajput, who bagged a gold at the Commonwealth Games record at Gold Coast this year, and created a Games record. Though he has won one silver and two bronze, the 37-year-old has never won a gold at the Asian Games.

The final is scheduled to start at 11.30am IST.

His debut Asian Games and 16-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary has bagged India’s third gold of these Games.

Selected ahead of seasoned campaigner Jitu Rai, Chaudhary proved just why he was counted among the medal favourites, clinching the gold with a new Games record score of 240.7.

Silver medal winner Tomoyuki Matsuda was leading the final throughout the event but it came down to the last two shots when it was just between him and Saurabh for the gold.

The young Indian maintained his calm and managed 10.2 in the penultimate shot but Matsuda fumbled and shot 8.9. Saurabh needed at 10.3 in the last shot to finish on top of the podium and very calmly, he shot 10.4 and grabbed the gold medal.

Coached by Jaspal Rana, Chaudhary started his shooting career only three years back and won the gold in the Junior World Shooting Championships this summer with a world record score there as well.

There’s another Indian on the podium in the event with Abhishek Verma winning the bronze.

29-year-old Abhishek Verma has bagged his first Asian Games medal, a bronze in the 10m Air Pistol Final.

It’s down to Saurabh and Matsuda in the final.

Both Abhishek Verma and Saurabh Chaudhary have ensured India bags two medals in this category. China’s Jiayu Wu is the last shooter to be eliminated before the medals are decided are the Indians are placed second and third.

After the second set of shots, Vladimir Issachenko has been eliminated but on the Indian front, both the shooters are now tied at the third spot.

The first cut has been made and one shooter has been eliminated from the final. The Indians are safe though with Saurabh in the second spot and Abhishek ranked sixth.

Indian shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma are competing in the 10m air pistol final.

Sixteen-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary qualified for the final in the second spot and has big expectations riding on him. Earlier this year, he won a gold medal at the Junior World Cup in Germany with a world record score of 243.7 in the 10m air pistol event.

This is Indian pro Jitu Rai’s category but the Indian shooting federation did not select him for the Asian Games this time round.

16-year-old Saurabh qualified for the final in the second spot and has big expectations riding on him. Earlier this year, he won a gold medal at the Junior World Cup in Germany with a world record score of 243.7 in the 10m air pistol event.

Abhishek was earlier in the 10m air pistol mixed team event with young shooting sensation Manu Bhaker. But the duo failed to make it to the final. The 30-year-old started shooting just three years back.

Finishing with a timing of 7:45.71, Indian rower Dattu Bhokanal qualifies for Final A of the Men's single sculls as he finishes on top in repechage round.

Team India also qualifies for the finals of the rowing men's Lightweight Fours, finishing second in their repechage race.

Bhopal Singh, Jagvir Singh, Tejas Shinde and Pranay Naukarkar qualified for the Final with a timing of 6.51.88.

Indian shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma qualify for the 10m Air Pistol men’s final.

16-year-old Saurabh finishes first in the 10m Air Pistol men’s qualification round, with a total score of 586.

Another Indian in the fray, Abhishek Verma finishes 6th with a total score of 580.

The final is scheduled to take place at 9.45am IST.

Another win for the Indian women’s kabaddi team! The defending champions beat Sri Lanka 38-12 to register their third straight win in the preliminary round.

They will be in action again today, taking on hosts Indonesia at 11.20am IST.

With a third-fastest timing of 22.43 in the 50m freestyle heats, Indian swimmer Virdhawal Khade qualifies for the men’s 50m freestyle final. The bronze medallist from the 2010 Asian Games finishes first in his heat.

With this timing, the 26-year-old from Kolhapur has set the national record, bettering his own record timing of 22.55 set during the Asian Age Group Championships in 2009.

Competing in the same event was Anshul Kothari, who finished first in his heat with a timing of 23.83. But he fails to qualify for the final.

The final is scheduled to take place at 5.06pm IST.

The Indian shooters and women’s kabaddi team start the proceedings on Day 3. Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma are competing in the qualifying round of the 10m Air Pistol Men event while Sanjeev Rajput and Akhil Sheoran’s 50m Rifle 3 Position qualification is now underway.

In their first match of the day, the Indian women’s kabaddi team’s have got a comfortable 37-10 lead over Sri Lanka. Later in the day, they will be playing hosts Indonesia.

Shooters Sanjeev Rajput and Akhil Sheoran will start the Indian contingent’s proceedings on Day 3. They will be competing in the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions. The event begins at 8 am IST.

At the same time, India’s archers will be in action in the recurve women’s team event. The women’s team will feature star archer Deepika Kumari. The Indian women’s kabaddi team will take on Sri Lanka in a Group A match at 8 am IST as well.

Later in the day, gymnast Dipa Karmakar will compete in the women’s team qualification round and wrestler Divya Kakran will take on Mongolia’s Sharkhuu Tumentsetseg in the 68kg women’s freestyle event.