- By Manik Sharma
- Sun, 24 Sep 2023 04:02 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The chess event at the Asian Games 2023 saw all four Indian Grandmasters making a strong start in their round one games. Vidit Santosh Gujarathi and Arjun Kumar secured victories in their respective men's individual games. Koneru Humpy, the 2006 Doha women's individual champion, and Harika Dronavalli also emerged victorious in round one.
In tennis, Saketh Sai Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan, the second-seeded men's doubles pair, began their campaign with a convincing 6-2, 6-3 win over Nepal's Abhishek Bastola and Pradip Khadka. The Indian duo showcased their skills, serving five aces during the match.
Table tennis witnessed an epic clash as Sharath Kamal, a two-time Asian Games bronze medallist, led India to a thrilling 3-2 victory over Kazakhstan in the men's team round of 16. Despite losing the opening match, India fought back to take a 2-1 lead before Sharath Kamal's remarkable comeback secured the win. India is set to face the Republic of Korea in the table tennis men's team quarter-final.
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In boxing, Indian pugilist Preeti Pawar stormed into the women's 54kg quarter-finals by defeating Jordan's Silina Alhasanat via RSC (Referee Stops Contest). With a perfect score in the opening two rounds, Preeti is now just one win away from securing a medal and India's women's 54 kg boxing quota at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Indian rowers Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh made a significant contribution by securing a silver medal in the highly competitive men's lightweight doubles sculls event in the first competitive Rowing race of the day.
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India has secured five medals in total in this edition of Asian Games. Their second silver medal in rowing came in the Men's Coxed Eight event with a timing of 05:43.01.
Earlier, Babulal Yadav and Lekh Ram had earned a bronze in the Men's Coxless Pair Rowing event, clocking a time of 6:50:41.
Earlier in the day, India's women's 10m Air Rifle team, composed of Ramita, Mehuli Ghosh, and Ashi Chouksey, secured a silver medal, marking India's inaugural medal in the event. India celebrated further success as Ramita Jindal clinched a bronze medal in the 10m Air Rifle Women's (Individual) event. This marked India's second medal in the shooting discipline at the games.
