Saina, Sindhu in round 2
Incheon: Ace shuttlers Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu stormed into the second round of women’s singles competition after winning their respective encounters at the 17th Asian Games here on wednesdayday.While Olympics bronze medallist Saina humbled U Teng Iok of Macau 21-10 21-8, Sindhu defeated Kit Leng Wong of Macau 21-17 21-13 at the Gyeyang Gymnasium.Indian women’s doubles pair of Pradnya Gadre and Sikki Reddy Nelakurthi and men’s doubles duo of B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri, too, advanced to second round with easy victories.
It took only 16 min for World number 55 pair of Pradnya and Sikki to thrash Nepali duo of Sichhya and Punam Gurung 21-16 21.In another lop-sided match, Sumeeth and Manu beat Nasheeu Sharafudden and Mohamed Sarim of Maldavis 21-7 21-7 in just 19 minutes.(UNI)
Akhil dominates, Shiva walks into 2nd round of Asiad boxing
Incheon: Comeback-man Akhil Kumar (60kg) pummelled his Nepalese rival Purna Bahadur Lama before notching up a Technical Knockout triumph while Shiva Thapa (56kg) merely had to show up to enter the second round as Indian boxers began their Asian Games campaign on a winning note here on wednesday.Shiva was the first to step into the ring this afternoon and he did not have to do anything more as his opponent, Leonel Helo Prada of Timor Leste, gave him a walkover.Akhil, a former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist, was the next man in for India in the second half of the day and the 33-year-old showed no signs of rustiness while getting past Lama.The Haryana-lad, who was returning to international competition after three years of injury-forced hibernation, was dominant from the word go.With his trademark open guard, the Indian went after his overtly cautious rival, who looked hesitant in attack and equally unsure in defence.The second round followed a similar script with Lama looking even more intimidated by his experienced rival. The Nepalese boxer faced one more standing eight count before Akhil sealed it 30-25.(pti)
Qatar forfeit basketball game
INCHEON:The Qatar women’s basketball team refused to play in their Asian Games group match against Mongolia today after being refused permission to wear the hijab.A spokesperson for the Incheon Asian Games (IAGOC) said the players had been asked to remove the Islamic scarf before the game at Hwaseong Sports Complex but had refused.”As far as I know it’s an issue of the international basketball federation, not the Asian Games,” the official told Reuters.According to International Basketball Federation regulation 4.4.2, among the items that are prohibited on court are: “Headgear, hair accessories and jewellery”.Qatari player Amal Mohamed A Mohamed said they had been assured they would be able to wear the hijab before they came to the Games in South Korea.”Before attending the Asian Games, we were told that we would be able to participate in matches by wearing a hijab,” she said. “However, the organisers of the Asian Games said to us that players with the hijab cannot play on wednesday’s match.(Reuters)
China bag two weightlifting golds
Incheon:China swept two weightlifting gold medals at the Asian Games here Wednesday as Xiang Yanmei won the women’s 69kg and Tian Tao was crowned in the men’s 85kg.Xiang broke snatch Asian Games record by lifting 118kg and totalled 268kg to win the gold, beating Ryo Un-hui of North Korea to the second place. Huang Shih Hsu of Chinese Taipei won bronze medal with the total lift of 233kg, reports Xinhua.”I feel very happy. It is the first gold medal for China in women’s weightlifting. I felt some pressure because there weren’t any medals,” Xiang said after the match.”From the beginning until the end I was confident. Even if I had failed the two attempts, I was going to win,” she added.Thanks to the last lift, Tian took home the gold of men’s 85kg after breaking the clean and jerk Asian Games record by lifting 218kg, and also the total lift record with 381kg.(ians)
Two more athletes test positive
Incheon: Two more athletes, a Cambodian and a Malaysian, have failed doping tests at the Asian Games.A source close to the Olympic Coucil of Asia (OCA) said Wednesday that the Cambodian is a female soft tennis player and the Malaysian is a male Wushu athlete, reports XinhuaSo far, three positive cases have been reported at the Incheon Asiad. Tajikistani footballer Khurshed Beknazarov was the first to fail a drug test. He tested positive for the banned substance methylhexaneamine after a match played Sep 14, five days before the opening of the Games.(ians)
Swimmers’ poor run continues
Incheon: There was no end to Indian swimmers’ dismal run at the Asian Games as the team finished a lowly seventh in the 4x100m freestyle relay final while none managed to make the final of two individual events here on wednesday.The Indian quartet of Anshul Kothari, Sajan Prakash, Neil Contractor and Aaron D’Souza clocked a disappointing 3:25.94 to be second from bottom in the eight-team final.Things were no better in the individual competition with Sandeep Sejwal finishing fifth in the men’s 100m breaststroke heats. Sejwal clocked 1:03.09.In the men’s 100m butterfly event, Sajan Prakash ended sixth with a timing of 55.64.(pti)