India bags 70 medals; Lovlina Borgohain and Neeraj Chopra to play for gold
At Hanghzou Asian Games in China, India’s Ram Babu and Manju Rani have opened today’s medal account clinching bronze medal in 35km race walk mixed relay. They clocked the timing of 5:52.14. With this country’s overall medal tally reached 70, comprising 15 gold, 26 silver and 29 bronze. In Archery, the no. 1 seed pair Ojas and Surekha defeated Kazakhstan with a spectacular scoreline of 159-154, securing their spot in the final. India currently holds fourth position in the overall medal table behind China, Japan and Republic of Korea.
In Badminton, PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy stormed into their respective singles quarterfinals. Sindhu defeated Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma in the round of 16, while Prannoy outplayed Kazakhstan’s Dimitriy Panarin.
Later today, India’s Neeraj Chopra will step out to defend his men’s javelin throw crown. Olympic medal winner pugilist Lovlina Borgohain will also be punching for gold in the women’s 75kg category against China’s Li Qian. In other athletics events of the day, the Indian men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams will also be in the medal hunt. Avinash Sable will run the 5000m.
The Indian men’s hockey team will be playing the semi-finals against the Republic of Korea. Archery, Badminton, Boxing, Bridge, Chess, Diving, Hockey and Equestrian would be the other events where India would have high hopes for the medal today.
Yesterday, two gold medals came in Athletics, while Annu Rani got the place at the centre of the podium in women’s javelin throw, Parul Chaudhary emerged victorious in the women’s 5000 metre race. In Canoeing, the duo of Arjun Singh and Sunil Singh Salam won a momentous bronze in the men’s 1000m event. This was the second canoe medal of the country in Asian Games history after 1994.
