Asian Games: Hockey gold, India's ton

Rohit Mahajan in Hangzhou

Harmanpreet Singh and his men, feted and cheered by a stadium full of Indian officials and athletes — and Chinese fans, standing in attention to the national anthem — jumped and whooped, sang and danced on the hockey turf, making it an Indian party to remember in the leafy Gongshu Canal Sports Park here.

Gold in men’s hockey exorcised the ghosts of Jakarta 2018 and earned the team a ticket to next year’s Paris Olympics — and took India’s medal tally at the Asian Games to 95. A maiden 100 is a certainty as there will be no nervous 90s; in fact, the figure of 102 has already been reached because at least seven more medals are secure with India — in archery (3), kabaddi (2), cricket (1) and badminton (1). Their colour will be determined tomorrow as the curtain comes down on the Hangzhou Asiad. The total (95) is already 25 better than India’s previous best at Asian Games, 70, achieved in Jakarta-Palembang five years ago. The men’s hockey team beat Japan 5-1 in front of a high-decibel Indian-dominated crowd, which made the Gongshu Canal arena resound to the cheers of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘India jeetega’. On the field, the players were first locked in a stiff contest by the feisty Japanese, who were eventually overpowered and then pinned down. After a goalless first quarter, India scored twice in the second quarter through Manpreet Singh (25th minute) and Abhishek (48th); Harmanpreet (32nd, 59th) and Amit Rohidas (36th) scored through penalty-corners in the second half, sending waves of ecstasy through the Indian officials and players — including the cricket team — cheering for them.

Five years ago in Jakarta, the Indian men had suffered a shock defeat to Japan in the semifinals, having earlier dominated the tournament; this complicated matters because now they were forced to go through a tough grind to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Harmanpreet was clearly a man with a burden off his shoulders. “I’m feeling on top of the world right now. This was our target, to qualify for the Olympics,” he said.

The day’s two silver medals were won in men’s team events in bridge and recurve archery. Women wrestlers Sonam Malik (62kg) and Kiran (76kg) won bronze, and Aman Sehrawat took one in the men’s 57kg freestyle. Defending champion Bajrang Punia, the biggest name in Indian wrestling, had a shocker in the 65kg division. The winner of a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, Punia seemed to be completely out of sorts against two top-class wrestlers — former world champion Rahman Amouzadkhalili crushed him 8-1 in the semifinals; then, in the fight for bronze, Japan’s Kaiki Yamaguchi handed him even greater humiliation, winning 10-0 on technical superiority.

In men’s singles badminton, HS Prannoy, hobbled by pain in the back, went down to Li Shifeng in the semifinals, but he did assure India of a first men’s singles bronze at an Asiad since 1982. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, however, cheered up the badminton camp a bit when they beat Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 21-17 21-12 in the semifinals; the Indians, world No. 3, would be counted as favourites in the final against Choi Solgyu and Kim Wonho of South Korea, world No. 15.

India also reached the final of men’s cricket, beating Bangladesh by nine wickets in the semifinals, with Tilak Varma smashing a 26-ball 55 not out in a comfortable chase. In men’s kabaddi, it was a complete mismatch as India crushed Pakistan 61-14, and the women’s team also made it to the gold medal match by beating Nepal 61-17. The men will take on the formidable Iran — the defending champions, who had beaten India in the semifinals back in 2018 — tomorrow, and the women will take on Chinese Taipei.

Reclaim gold after 9 years, Qualify for OlyMPICS

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