India added four more medals on the second day of the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday, taking its overall tally to six medals, while continuing to wait for its first gold.
Three of India’s four medals came from shooting, while Suchika Tariyal created history by becoming India’s first Asian Games medallist in mixed martial arts.
Suchika won the bronze medal after losing 0-2 to Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo. Her compatriot Varun Sanyal’s MMA campaign ended before it began due to medical reasons.
The bronze marked a significant achievement for Suchika, who hails from Kiloi village in Haryana’s Rohtak district. She is a 2024 world champion in jiu-jitsu and has represented India in judo at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and in kurash at the 2022 Asian Games.
“I tried my absolute best to change the colour of this medal. But due to certain circumstances, I couldn’t achieve that, or perhaps there was some minor shortcoming on my part,” Suchika told ANI after the bout.
India’s other three medals came from shooting. Himanshu Dhillon won silver and Rudrankksh Patil secured bronze in the men’s 10m air rifle individual event.
The duo then teamed up with 18-year-old Parth Rakesh Mane to win silver in the men’s 10m air rifle team event with a score of 1898.4 points.
China’s Sheng Lihao, Changhong Zhang and Sihan Ma won gold with 1899.0 points, setting a new world record and surpassing the previous mark of 1898.4 set in Cairo last year.
India also registered strong results across several other disciplines on Day 2.
The women’s hockey team recorded a 17-1 win over Indonesia in Pool B, while defending champions India began their kabaddi campaigns with victories. The women’s team defeated Bangladesh 42-21, while the men’s team beat Japan 49-24.
In badminton, India’s men’s team opened its campaign with a 3-0 win over Bangladesh. Lakshya Sen, K. Srikanth and Ayush Shetty won their respective singles matches, making the remaining doubles ties unnecessary.
India’s men’s and women’s table tennis teams also registered 3-0 victories over Pakistan. The women’s team extended its unbeaten run to three matches and topped Group F, while the men’s team bounced back from its defeat to Iran with a clean sweep.
In boxing, Sumit Kundu defeated Thailand’s Bunjong Sinsiri 5-0 in the men’s 70kg category.
In wushu, Roshibina Devi and Aryan advanced to the quarterfinals in their respective events.
Swimming proved more challenging for India, with two-time Olympian Srihari Nataraj finishing 10th in the men’s 50m backstroke final. He clocked 25.52 seconds, compared with 25.37 seconds in the heats earlier in the day.
Indian swimmers Akash Mani and Heer Gitesh Shah failed to progress from the men’s 50m freestyle heats, while Dhanush Suresh also exited in the men’s 100m breaststroke.
In soft tennis, Aadhya Tiwari and Jay Meena were eliminated in the round of 16 after losing to the Philippines’ Christy Sanosa and Sherwin Ray Nuguit. (ANI)
