by Elton Gomes
India’s medal run at the Asian Games continued after wrestler Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold at the Asian Games. Phogat defeated Japan’s Yuki Irie in the 50 kilogram women’s Freestyle final. This was India’s second gold, and the country currently stands in seventh spot with two gold medals, two silver, and one bronze. In other sports on day 2, India’s men’s badminton team went down 1-3 to hosts Indonesia in the quarter finals. India’s quadruple sculls team and Dushyant entered the finals of the rowing competitions.
Phogat wins gold
After defeating Japan’s Yuki Irie in the Women’s Freestyle 50 kg bout, India’s Phogat became the first woman wrestler to win gold at the Asiad. Vinesh fully dominated the final against Irie and took a 4-0 lead initially. She then stretched her lead to 6-2 to win gold.
A huge round of thanks to @WFI_Wrestling, @Media_SAI, @OGQ_India, and coach Woller Akos who have played important roles in my #AsianGames journey 🙏 A big hug and thanks to my physio Rucha Kashalkar and the entire team for taking such amazing care of me! #TrulyBlessed ☺️👍 pic.twitter.com/I26FQGDGet
Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) August 21, 2018
On the road to the final, Phogat breezed through in the semi-final against Uzbekistan’s Daulatbike Yakshimuratova. The referee took just 75 seconds to declare Phogat the winner by technical superiority (10-0).
Union sports minister Rajyavardhan Rathore congratulated Phogat on Twitter.
What a stupendous performance by @Phogat_Vinesh!
She wins 2nd🥇for India at #AsianGames2018 in the women’s freestyle 50kg Womens Wrestling. Way to go champ! #IndiaAtAsianGames pic.twitter.com/mr3YKW8BZp Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) August 20, 2018
The win will surely be a ground-breaking achievement for the 23-year-old wrestler from Haryana. Phogat put her loss at the Olympics behind her and began her campaign at the Asiad with a win against Chinese Yanan Sun. Phogat overpowered Sun with a 8-2 victory. Thereafter, she brushed aside Korea’s Hyungjoo Kim by technical superiority.
Deepak Kumar and Lakshay Sheoran win silver
Shooters Deepak Kumar and Lakshay Sheoran won silver medals in the men’s 10m Air Rifle and Trap events, respectively. With the win, Indian shooters have continued their impressive performance at the Asian Games. Kumar finished second with a score of 247.7, while teammate Ravi Kumar finished fourth with a score of 205.2 in the men’s 10m Air Rifle competition.
Sheoran finished second, while compatriot Manavjit Singh Sandhu came in fifth in the men’s trap final. The 20-year-old Sheoran got 43 points on board to finish second behind Chinese Taipei’s Kunpi Yang.
Young Lakshya Sheoran has brought smiles on the faces of every Indian! I congratulate him on winning the Silver medal in the Mens Trap Shooting event at the @asiangames2018. These are his first Asian Games and he is already showing such great potential. Best wishes to him. pic.twitter.com/FuaSEscwSO
Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 20, 2018
Chinese Taipei’s Kunpi, 20, did not miss any shot as he dominated the match. Sheoran missed a shot in the 49th spot, but managed a strong comeback to hit 17 strokes in a row. However, he fumbled in the 19th, 21st, and 22nd shots – this affected his chances. He was spot on for nine consecutive strikes, but failed the 32nd and 33rd, which costed him gold.
Hockey team registers biggest win as India seeks more medals
India’s men’s hockey team began its title defence at the Games with a battering of hosts Indonesia. The men’s hockey team demolished Indonesia 17-0 to register their biggest win in the continental competition.
Youngsters Dilpreet Singh, Simranjeet Singh, and Mandeep Singh scored a hat-trick each, while the remaining goals came from Rupinder Pal Singh, Akashdeep Singh, SV Sunil, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Harmanpreet Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, and Amit Rohidas. The Indian team recorded a conversion rate of 43 percent as they scored 10 goals off the 28 field attempts and managed to convert 6 of the 11 penalty corners.
India has assured itself a medal in the sport of sepak takraw by booking a place in the semifinals with a win over Iran. India defeated Iran 21-16, 19-21, 21- 17 to secure a winning start to their campaign. However, they lost 0-3 to Indonesia, but advanced to the last-four stage and will guaranteed win at least a bronze.
Prarthana Mitra is a staff writer at Qrius