Articles by "Palembang"
Palembang, Aug 24: Experienced Indian shooter Heena Sidhu settled for a bronze medal in a topsy-turvy women's 10m air rifle final of the Asian Games here today.
Heena shot a near-perfect 10.8 with just three shooters left in the field but a 9.6 in the next attempt dashed her hopes of a better finish at the Jakabaring Shooting Range.
Having made an incredible comeback after languishing at 13th and 17th places in the qualification stage, Heena did not look content with the eventual third-place finish as she managed to reduce the gap to a mere 0.1 between her and the gold medal.
Heena shot 219.3 in the final.
There was more disappointment in store for 16-year-old Manu Bhaker as the Commonwealth Games gold-medallist was eliminated at fifth place with a score of 176.2.
For two straight events at the ongoing Games, Bhaker shot brilliantly in the qualifications and cracked in the final.
The Haryana girl had topped the 25m pistol qualification with a Games record and was third today. (PTI)
Palembang, Aug 24: Top seeds Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan notched up their maiden men's doubles gold medal at the Asian Games, dominating the final clash with a thoroughly clinical performance here today.
Bopanna and Sharan defeated Aleksander Bublik and Denis Yevseyev of Kazakhstan 6-3 6-4 in 52 minutes.
Less than 20 minutes into the match, the Indians were 4-1 ahead, breaking Bublik and Yevseyev at the very first opportunity they got.
In no time, the top seeds were serving for the set with a 5-3 lead and Bopanna's booming serve wrapped it up in style for them.
The Kazakhs had their moments but were undone by erratic play -- a brilliant cross-court backhand winner one moment and a powerless return buried in the nets the very next minute.
In contrast, Bopanna and Sharan's easy camaraderie shone through in the match and they displayed near-perfect on-court coordination.
Bopanna was particularly formidable from the baseline, displaying a good range of strokes to pull off some tough winners, helped by his brute power.
The second set went slightly better for Bublik and Yevseyev but they just could not rein in the unforced errors, including a double fault in the fifth game which could have cost them.
The Kazakhs had the faster legs between the two pairs but the Indians had the experience to negate that.
At 3-3, Bopanna and Sharan clinched the all-important break to go up and though they were pushed a bit in the very next game, the top seeds held serve to grab a 5-3 lead.
The Kazakhs held on in the next game but it only delayed the inevitable.
Serving for the match at 40-0, Bopanna didn't really come up with the booming serve but the Kazakhs had been deflated enough and a feeble return went into the nets to give India the first tennis gold of the ongoing event.
India have claimed the men's doubles gold on four occasions at the Games, the last pair being Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh in the 2010 Guangzhou edition.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes remain the most successful Indian men's doubles pair in the Asian Games history, having claimed back-to-back gold medals in the 2002 and 2006 Games.
Paes had stunned the Indian team this time by pulling out on the eve of the Games after complaining of not getting a specialist partner of his choice.
In 2014, Saketh Myneni and Sanam had ended with a silver medal. (PTI)
Palembang, Aug 24: The Indian rowing contingent redeemed itself by winning three medals, including a historic gold in quadruple sculls, on the final day of the competition at the 18th Asian Games here.
The rowers had to overcome an unexpected and disastrous outing yesterday, when they were in contention for four medals, to ensure that India doesn't return home empty handed from the Jakabaring lake.
All Armymen, most of them from humble background, fought with the never-say-die spirit that soldiers are best known for. They pushed their boats as if there was no tomorrow.
"Yesterday we had a bad day but soldiers never give up. I told my teammates that we will go for the gold and we will give it all. It was about karo ya maro (do or die). And we did it," Sawarn Singh, senior most member of the gold-winning quadruple sculls team, told PTI.
He not only pushed himself to the limit but his words of encouragement fired up his teammates, including Dattu Baban Bhokanal, who had given up midway into his single sculls race yesterday after starting as the favourite.
The other members of the triumphant team were Sukhmeet Singh, who like Sawarn is from Mansa district in Punab, and Om Prakash.
Like Bhokanal, Sawarn and Prakash also suffered a heartbreak yesterday, missing out on the bronze in the men's double sculls. But all of them were able to turn it around in less than 24 hours.
Dushyant Chauhan, bronze medallist in lightweight single sculls at Incheon, defended his third place in the event.
Courtesy Bhagwan Singh and Rohit Kumar, India won another bronze in men's lightweight double sculls.
Bhagwan is a son of a truck driver who had to quit journalism in the second year and join Indian Army due to financial issues.
Dushyant, who is now an experienced rower, gave his all quite literally. The energy sapping dash in the final 500 metres led to him being carried on a stretcher to the medical centre. He was so drained out that he could not stand properly during the medal ceremony. Minutes later he threw up, prompting the doctors to rush him to the medical centre.
"I pushed as if it was the last race of my life. That was the only thing in the mind. May be I pushed a bit too hard but it was worth it. I had a bad cold and throat in the run up to the event, that also affected me a lot during the race. I was gone," said Dushyant, who had not eaten much in the morning ahead of the race as they all have to maintain weight (72kg).
"I just had two breads and an apple. It was very hot also. That is why I was completely dehydrated," added the 25-year-old who lives in Gurgaon.
In the quadruple sculls, it was a lot more than just a race for the experienced Bhokanal and Sawarn.
Bhokanal had to win it for his late mother while Sawarn had to do it to know if he still had gas left in the tank.
The 28-year-old had almost quit the sport, having suffered a slip disc following his bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games. He only made a comeback last year due to the constant encouragement from chief coach Ismail Baig.
"I never thought that I could come back and win a medal for the country again. The federation took care of me, sent me to Chennai for my back treatment. I am thankful to them," said Sawarn.
The quadruple sculls squad changed its tactics after the dismal show yesterday.
"We were in the front in the first 1000m yesterday but were chased down at the end. Today we made ensure we were steady in the first half and then accelerated in the final 500 metres," Sawarn added.
The move did pay off as Sawarn and Co won the race by close to three seconds. Indonesia and Thailand won the silver and bronze respectively.
The gold was also India's second at the Asian Games rowing, the first being Bajrang Lal Thakkar's in 2010. (PTI)
Palembang, Aug 24: India bagged two bronze medals in rowing through Rohit Kumar and Bhagwan Singh in lightweight double sculls after Dushyant started the day with a third-place finish in lightweight single sculls at the Asian Games here.
Indian rowers Rohit and Bhagwan clocked 7:04.61 to win bronze in their event at the JSC Lake. Japan's Miyaura Masayuki and Takeda Masahiro won the gold with a timing of 7:01.70 while Koreans Kim Byunghoon and Lee Minhyuk (7:03.22) bagged silver.
Earlier, Dushyant won the country its first rowing medal at the ongoing Games, claiming a bronze in men's lightweight single sculls.
Korea's Hyunsu Park and Hong Kong's Chun Gun Chiu won the gold and silver medals respectively.
Dushyant, who was declared the best rower in the 2013 National Championships, finished third on the podium with a timing of 7.18.76 as India enjoyed a good beginning on the sixth day of competition.
The Indian, who began rowing in 2012 at an army training camp in Roorkee, had won a bronze in the last edition of the Games, too, in Incheon.
This was India's 20th medals at the ongoing Games and 12th bronze. The country has also won four gold and as many silver medals. (PTI)
Palembang, Aug 23: Indian tennis player Ankita Raina settled for a bronze medal at the Asian Games after losing to China's Zhang Shuai in the women's singles semifinal here today.
Ankita lost 4-6, 6-7 (6) in a gruelling contest that lasted a little over two hours.
India's best women's singles performance in the Games came from Saina Mirza, who notched up a silver in the 2006 edition in Doha, followed by a bronze by her in 2010, Guangzhou.
With today's bronze, the 25-year-old Ankita became only the second Indian woman to have her name in the Asian Games' singles medallists list.
Both the losing semifinalists are entitled to a bronze each in the Games. (PTI)
Palembang, Aug 22: Rahi Sarnobat today became the first Indian woman shooter to win an Asian Games gold medal as she triumphed after prevailing in a double shoot-off in the 25m pistol event here.
The 27-year-old shot a games record score on her way to wining the yellow metal at the Jakabaring Shooting Range.
The final went into shoot-off after Rahi and Naphaswan Yangpaiboon of Thailand were tied on 34 points.
Both Rahi and Yangpaiboon shot four out of five shots in the first shoot-off, and then in the second shoot-off the Indian prevailed over her opponent by missing one less.
However, it turned out to be a disappointing outing for the fancied Manu Bhaker, as the 16-year-old finished sixth after entering the final with a qualification games record score of 593. (PTI)
Palembang, Aug 21: Debutant teenager Saurabh Chaudhary clinched India's first shooting gold of the 18th Asian Games, fetching the top honours in the men's 10m air pistol event here today.
The 16-year-old Chaudhary, who topped the qualifying round, shot a Games record score of 240.7 to pip Japan's Tomoyuki Matsuda (239.7) in an exciting final to add a gold to India's shooting tally of two silver and a bronze this Asiad.
Hobby shooter Abhishek Verma, also making his Asian Games debut at 29, settled for the bronze medal in the same event with a score of 219.3.
In second position for most of the final, Chaudhary grabbed the lead after Matsuda fired 8.9 in his penultimate shot. The Indian went ahead with a 10.2 off his second-last shot and held the nerve to stay ahead. (PTI)
Palembang, Aug 20: Indian shooter Deepak Kumar claimed the silver medal in men's 10m air rifle event after producing excellent scores at crucial junctures, pipping fancied teammate Ravi Kumar at the 18th Asian Games here today.
Deepak shot 247.7 to finish second on the podium behind China's Haoran Yang, who won the top prize with a Games record 249.1 at the JSC Shooting Range of this port city.
Chinese Taipei's Shaochuan Lu (226.8) bagged the bronze after being beaten by a near-perfect score of 10.9 by Deepak in the third-place shoot-off.
Deepak then shot a 10.8 to get the better of Ravi (205.2), who combined with Aprurvi Chandela to win bronze in the air rifle mixed event yesterday.
This is India's third medal at the ongoing Games and second in shooting. (PTI)
Palembang, Aug 18: Indian rower Dattu Baban Bhokanal, the favourite to win single sculls gold at the Asian Games, is back to his best after a traumatising period during which he lost his mother.
The strong rowing contingent expectedly has not attracted much attention but they can significantly contribute to India's medals tally at the Games.
Indian rowing technical director Nicolai Gioga expects medals in seven events including singles sculls where Bhokanal will be vying for the gold.
His average time has been hovering around the 7 minute mark and two weeks ago while training in Pune he also produced the time he clocked in Rio Olympics -- 6:54.96.
At Incheon Asian Games four years ago, Iran's Mohsen Shadi won the gold with 7.05.66.
"A medal should come considering the times I have been producing but in rowing it is all about the wind. Pune was okay but here you never know about the wind. It stops and them comes from nowhere. So impossible to say what time will be good enough for a medal," said Army man Bhokanal.
He is also in the hunt for gold in the quadruple sculls alongside Sawarn Singh and two others. Singh won a single sculls bronze at Incheon.
A big group of 34 rowers, all from Army barring one, have come to Palembang.
They live like a family and it is easily visible. It was the same set of people who stood by Bhokanal in tough times.
His mother was ailing when he took part in Rio Olympics, the only Indian to qualify, and in the same year she passed away. The 27-year-old from Talegaon in Nashik district was devastated and did not touch the rowing boat for a long time.
"Wo bura waqt tha (it was tough then). But now it drives me to do something good in my life. I know my mother is watching from above and is praying for gold," said the soft-spoken Bhokanal.
Indian rowing has seen major changes ever since the arrival of Romanian Gioga.
The diet has changed and so have the training methods. But there is still a long way to, feels Bhokanal.
"The foreign coach wants performance and he doesn't care if we are in pain. If we were doing 20 km in a day, we are now doing 36-40 km," added the champion rower.
Gioga ensures that the rowers train so hard that they end up hating him.
"Sometimes they have back pain, sometimes butt pain or some pain or the other. I know what to do to increase speed of the boat. But I can only do that if their health is normal. They cannot follow my regime, I destroy them, said the Romanian, who is contracted till Tokyo Olympics.
"We are not looking at Asian Games. I am preparing them for Olympics. Having said that, these Games are important too. I expect minimum two gold medals and medals in seven events. But the boys need to aim higher (Olympics)," Gioga added.
The rowing competition begins here tomorrow. (PTI)
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