Incheon: Star wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt notched up India’s fourth gold medal, while Khushbir Kaur became the first woman from the country to win a medal in 20km Race Walking by clinching a silver as India shot up to ninth in overall standings on the ninth day of competitions in the 17th Asian Games here on Sunday.
Besides, tennis players accounted for three bronze medals through Yuki Bhambri (men’s singles and men’s doubles with Divij Sharan) and Sania Mirza and Prarthana Thombare (women’s doubles). M R Poovamma and Rajiv Arokia won a bronze each in men’s and women’s 400m race respectively while Manju Bala added another medal of same hue in women’s hammer throw.
It was yet another joyful day for the Indian contingent after yesterday’s rich haul of 10 medals and have now broken into the top 10 for the first time since the multi-discipline extravaganza began on September 19.
Medals won on Sunday aside, India can look forward to rich haul in the coming days as well with the women boxers assured of medals in all three weight categories. The men’s doubles tennis pair of Sanam Singh and Saketh Myneni as well as mixed doubles team of Myneni and Sania also assured themselves of at least a silver by advancing to the final.
Yogeshwar was star performer of the day as he better his 2006 edition bronze in style with a couple of splendid bouts. The Olympic bronze-medallist was trailing all through in his semifinal bout before coming good in the last few seconds to enter the final.
In the summit clash, Yogeshwar defeated Zalimkhan Yusupov of Tajikistan to expectedly pick the gold.
Earlier, Khushbir Kaur provided the early spark by becoming the first Indian woman to win a medal in race walking in the Asian Games as she clinched a silver in 20km event.
The 21-year-old from Amritsar clocked 1:33:07 to finish behind Lu Xiuzhi of China, who won the gold in 1:31:06, at the Marathon Course here.
The Indian, who holds the national record of 1:31:40, was consistently third till the 18km mark before going up a position in the final two kilometres, thanks largely to the slowing down of second-placed Chinese Nie Jingjing, who eventually finished fourth.
This is the biggest triumph of Khushbir’s nascent career after the bronze medal she won at this year’s Asian Walking Championships bronze in Japan. She was the first Indian woman to achieve such a feat.
In tennis, Yuki clinched India’s lone singles’ medal settling for a bronze in the men’s event after unforced errors cost him the semifinal against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka. A profligate Yuki lost 6-3 2-6 1-6 in one hour and 46 minutes.
Divij Sharan and Yuki Bhambri also bagged bronze after losing the men’s doubles semifinals to Yongkyu Lim and Hyeon Chung 6-7 (8) 7-6 (6) 9-11.
Indian track and field athletes added three more bronze later in the day after Khushbir’s silver in the morning as they put behind the disappointment of denying an additional medal in women’s 3000m steeplechase event.
Poovamma made up for a slow start and get into medal contention on the back straight as she won a bronze in 52.36, well below her personal best of 51.73 done in Lucknow during the National Inter-State Meet in June.
In boxing, it was an all-win outing for the country’s women pugilists. Olympic bronze medallist M C Mary Kom led the charge as Indian women assured themselves of medals in each of the three weight categories.
Mary Kom (51kg), L Sarita Devi (60kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg) entered the semifinals of their respective weight categories with commanding victories.
In tennis, Saketh Myneni got himself in line for two gold medals by reaching the finals of both men’s doubles and mixed doubles events. Saketh and Sanam Singh overcame experienced Thai twins Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana 4-6 6-3 10-6 in the men’s doubles semifinals, which lasted 67 minutes.
Later in the day, the big-serving Myneni combined with seasoned doubles exponent Sania to reach the mixed doubles summit clash with a convincing 6-1 6-3 win over Chinese pair of Zie Zheng and Ze Zhang.
However, the Indian handball teams continued with their listless show as both the men’s and women’s units lost their respective classification matches.
The Indian men finished 14th after going down 25-32 to UAE.The women’s team lost 26-44 against Uzbekistan in 5th-8th place Classification tie. They will next play the women’s classification 7th-8th place on September 30.
The Indian men’s volleyball team put up a spirited fight against the much-fancied South Korea before losing 22-25 25-27 18-25 in a closely contested group E play-off match.
Indian women cagers failed to put up a fight against a formidable Japan and suffered a crushing 37-70 loss in the basketball quarterfinal match.
In equestrian competitions, India’s Yashaan Zubin Khambatta, riding a horse named Olgy, qualified for the Jumping Individual Final Round. (PTI )