Jakarta: India were assured Friday of three medals in squash at the Asian Games with Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal Karthik advancing to the semifinals of their respective singles events here. Top seed Saurav beat compatriot Harinder Pal Sandhu 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7, Dipika recorded an easy 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 win over Japanese Kobayashi Misaki in women’s singles while Joshna defeated Hong Kong’s Chan Ho Ling 11-5,12-10, 5-11, 12-10.
Shuttlers crash out
Top Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy were knocked out after suffering shock defeats in the second round of men’s singles here Friday. After Srikanth lost 21-23, 19-21 to Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong in a 43-minute duel, Prannoy too followed suit going down 12-21, 21-15, 15-21 to Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen in a 65-minute contest, much to the dismay of Indian fans. In women’s doubles Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy reached the quarterfinals with a thrilling 21-17, 16-21, 21-19 win over higher-ranked Malaysian combination of Chow Mei Kuan and Lee Meng Yean.
No lift
India’s poor show in the Asian Games weightlifting continued as Rakhi Halder failed to register even a single lift in the women’s 63kg category here. The 25-year-old failed to clear her snatch section of the competition.
Thrilling win
The Indian men’s handball team defeated Pakistan 28-27 in a pulsating contest to notch up their second consecutive win in the main round here Friday. They led 14-12 at half time. For India the star performers were Greenidge D’Cunha (nine goals), Adithya Nagaraj (six), Navin Punia and Karamjeet Singh (four each).
Mixed fortunes
Veteran Manoj Kumar (69kg) eased into the pre-quarters but CWG gold medallist Gaurav Solanki (52kg) went out with a stunning opening-round loss, giving a mixed start to India’s boxing campaign. Manoj prevailed 5-0 over Bhutan’s Sangay Wangdi while Solanki was beaten in a unanimous verdict by Japan’s Ryomei Tanaka.
Golfers shine
Young Kshitij Naveed Kaul produced a superb round of 68 as Indian golfers held on to second position to put themselves into contention for a medal in men’s golf. Aadil Bedi, who had a bogey-free round of 69, Thursday, added a two-under 70, while Kaul shot a bogey-free 68 and Rayhan Thomas turned in a 69 as India remained in title hunt behind Japan. Bedi took his two-day total to 139 and individually he is tied third.
