By Elton Gomes
India added another gold medal to its tally after Tajinderpal Singh Toor won gold in shot put. Toor registered a record-breaking throw of 20.75 metres. Squash player Dipika Pallikal won India’s first medal for the day after taking home bronze. Joshna Chinappa added another bronze after losing 1-3 to 19-year-old Sivasangari Subramaniam of Malaysia.
The Indian athletics camp got off to a good start after Muhammed Anas and Arokia Rajiv qualified for the men’s 400m semi-finals. India’s shooting squad, however, faced disappointment after Anish Bhanwala and Shivam Shukla failed to qualify for the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol final, and finished 9th and 11th, respectively.
Tajinderpal Singh Toor breaks the Games’ record
Tajinderpal Singh Toor became Indias first gold medallist in the track and field events at the 2018 Asian Games after he won gold in the men’s shot put with a Games record of 20.75 metres.
Toor dominated the match and registered a throw of 19.96 metres, through which he gained the lead. In his second throw, Toor managed to throw the iron ball at a distance of 19.15 metres. In the second round, Toor’s first throw was at a distance of 19.96 metres, and his second attempt was the record-breaking one wherein he got a distance of 20.75 metres on the throw.
Toor also broke national record with this throw and improved the six-year-old record of 20.69 metres held by Om Prakash Kathana.
https://twitter.com/Ra_THORe/status/1033363546233622528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa win bronze in squash
Indian squash players Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa won a bronze medal each after losing in their respective semi-final matches at the Games. Pallikal seemed to be out of form and lost her match 0-3 (7-11, 9-11, 6-11) to defending champion and former top seed Nicol David of Malaysia. On the other hand, Chinappa went down 1-3 (5-11, 10-12, 11-5, 10-12) in front of Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam.
Chinappa failed to match up to her 19-year-old opponent Subramaniam. Pallikal had defeated Japans Kobayashi Misaki in straight sets to reach the quarters. However, Pallikal could do little to counter against David, the three-time Asian Games Champion.
Elton Gomes is a staff writer at Qrius