Indian shooters were on target for the second successive day as they delivered a bronze medal in the men’s 10m air pistol team event, while Dipika Pallikal assured the country of its first women’s singles squash medal in the 17th Asian Games in Incheon on Sunday.
New shooting sensation Jitu Rai, who gave India the first gold medal yesterday, was again the standout performer as he guided the men’s team to the bronze medal in 10m air pistol event at the Ongnyeon International Shooting Range.
Rai’s splendid and precise shooting, that helped him garner 585 points and qualify for the medal round with the second-best score, backed up by Samaresh Jung’s 580 (who finished 9th) and Prakash Nanjappa’s 578 (14th), albeit with an injured leg, helped India garner 1743 points, the same as second placed China, for the bronze.
In fact, India and China were level on points and the silver was decided by the number of Xs (bullseye) in the tens in which the latter tallied one more -- 65 to India’s 64.
The gold was won by hosts South Korea with a combined tally of 1744.
On the squash court, Dipika assured India of a maiden women’s singles squash medal, while top seed Saurav Ghosal confirmed his third successive podium finish in men’s singles after the two reached the semifinals of their respective events.
Ghosal defeated Pakistan’s Iqbal Nasir 11-6, 9-11, 11-2, 11-9 in a contest, which lasted 58 minutes at the Yeorumul Squash Courts.
Dipika, on the other hand, triumphed in an all-Indian battle against senior pro Joshana Chinappa 7-11, 11-9, 11-8, 15-17, 11-9.
In hockey, the men’s team hammered Sri Lanka 8-0 in their pool B match to begin their campaign in style.
The tennis players were also in good form as India blanked Nepal 3-0 to sail into the quarterfinals of men’s team event.
Yuki Bhambri did not drop a game en route to a crushing 6-0, 6-0 win over Jeetendra Pariyar to seal the issue in India’s favour, after Sanam Singh posted a comfortable 6-0, 6-1 victory over Abhishek Bastola at the Yeorumul Tennis Courts.
In the inconsequential doubles tie, the Indian duo of Divij Sharan and Saketh Myneni registered a comfortable straight sets 6-0, 6,0 win over Santosh Khatri and Sonam Dawa, thrashing their opponents in only 35 minutes.
However, in shooting, the men’s trap trio of Mansher Singh, Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Darius Kynan Chenai flopped with all of them finishing outside the top ten.
Mansher secured the 11th position with an aggregate of 117 over two days, Sandhu secured 116 to be 14th while Chenai brought up the rear after logging 108 to end up a distant 36 out of 46 shooters.
Jitu Rai also could not add to his or the country’s tally when the eight-man finals took place in 10m air pistol individual competition.
The 50m champion was leading after the sixth of the 20-shot finals in the shorter distance.
In hockey, Rupinderpal Singh scored a hat-trick as India began their campaign impressively. Rupinderpal pumped in three goals in the 12th, 45th and 46th minute, while Ramandeep Singh found the net in the 28th and 59th minute.
There were also goals for Danish Mujtaba, Kangujam Chinglensana Singh and Raghunath Ramachandra at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium.
However, there was disappointment in some other sports where Indians seemed to be making up the numbers.
The Indian swimmers cut a sorry figure, failing to qualify for the finals of the three events in which they participated at the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Center here.
Saurabh Sangvekar ended fifth in the men’s 200m freestyle heat with a timing of 1:53.33. In the men’s 100m backstroke heats, Madhu Nair clocked 57.81 to finish seventh.
In men’s 200m butterfly event, Agnel D’Souza finished a creditable fourth with a timing of 2:04.74.
The Indian handball team’s dismal show also continued as it lost 19-39 to South Korea in its second group D match.
The Indians trailed the host team 6-21 in the first half before losing the second half 13-18.
Cyclists Debroah and Mohan Mahitha finished ninth and 11th in the women’s keirin individual track event.
Both Debroah and Mahitha finished fifth in their respective heats over eight laps before ending at the ninth and 11th in the classification race to decide minor positions at the Incheon International Velodrome.
After an impressive start in their opening game, the Indian men cagers failed to maintain the momentum as they went down fighting 67-73 to Saudi Arabia in their second Group B qualifying round match in the basketball competition.
