Nagoya: The star-studded cricket and hockey teams predictably defended their crowns, but it was 17-year-old archer Kumkum Mohod and golfer Pranavi Urs, who scripted unexpected history, adding to the late gold rush that powered India to a creditable fourth place in the Asian Games in Japan’s Nagoya Saturday.
The country could not repeat or better the 106 medals claimed in the previous edition, but the haul of 85 is a decent enough performance although better was expected, especially from shooters and badminton players. In the end, India secured 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze medals.
Eleven of these 21 gold medals came in the last two days and the final positions could still change slightly as a couple of equestrian competitions are scheduled on Sunday where India’s nearest competitor Uzbekistan is in fray.
But Saturday was a day full of celebrations for the country as familiar stars of cricket and hockey delivered with elan.
The Shreyas Iyer-led cricket team secured a 19-run win over arch-foes Pakistan in Nisshin, the hockey players, led by the redoubtable Harmanpreet Singh, were also clinical in Kakamigahara against Malaysia, beating them 5-1 in the final.
For the hockey side, the gold also secured direct qualification to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Another gold-winner on the day was the very under-stated Olympic bronze-medallist Aman Sehrawat. He picked up top honours in the 57kg category, reaffirming his calibre.
But Pranavi and Kumkum were the standout stories of the day.
While Kumkum became the first Indian woman archer to win an individual recurve gold, Pranavi achieved the same in golf, both displaying tremendous poise under pressure.
Kumkum, in fact, wouldv be heading back home with two gold and a silver medal to her credit in what can only be called a dream debut at the Games. The teenager from Maharashtra also secured an individual quota place for India in Olympic Games.
Pranavi also managed more than one medal as the Indian women’s golf team finished with a silver thanks largely to her performance.
The other silver medal on the day came from wrestler Antim Panghal (women’s 53kg), while recurve archer Neeraj Chauhan defeated his higher-rated compatriot Dhiraj Bommadevara to bag the men’s individual bronze.
Archers end on a high
After sweeping the compound team event golds and securing a first ever women’s team recurve gold, Kumkum’s top finish made it a campaign to remember for the archery contingent.
Kumkum defeated South Korea’s Oh Yejin 6-5 in the final after going past high-quality opponents in the previous two rounds.
She edged reigning world champion Kang Chaeyoung in the quarterfinal before putting it past world championships silver-medallist and former world No. 1 China’s Jingyi Zhu in the semifinal in a campaign to remember.
The men’s run, however, ended on a slightly disappointing note with Dhiraj and Neeraj squaring off for a bronze after failing to move beyond the semifinals.
The archers signed off with nine medals, including five gold medals.
Pranavi’s Golf Gold
Unable to sleep the previous night due to nerves, Pranavi was calmness personified as she held on to a slender one-stroke lead in the final round to achieve a historic women’s individual gold in golf that also helped the country claim the team silver.
The 23-year-old from Mysore sent in three birdies to recover from a horrendous triple bogey on the third hole, which had wiped away her three-stroke overnight lead.
With a final round score of even-par 70, she ended with a total of 15-under 265 for four days, a stroke ahead of the pack.
“I like being the first to do things. People will come along to do more but the first will always be the first,” a jubilant Pranavi said after the historic triumph.
Pranavi’s performance also became a crucial factor in fetching India the team silver with other members being Aditi Ashok (67 in final round) and Diksha Dagar (77 in final round).
Aditi, who had won an individual silver in the last edition of the Games, produced her best performance of the week, slamming in six consecutive birdies against a double bogey and a bogey, to sign off tied 14th individually with a two-over 282 total. Diksha ended tied 23rd on the individual leaderboard with a 12-over total.
The two best scores are taken into account for deciding the team medals and India ended 14-under 546, well behind gold-winners China (22-under 538).
Expected golds in cricket, hockey
Abhishek Sharma was the familiar nemesis upfront while Tilak Varma became a tormentor towards the end as India lived up to its top billing by defending the Asian Games men’s cricket gold with a 19-run win over Pakistan.
The pitch was a tricky one but eased out later as world’s No. 1 T20I batter Abhishek smashed 61 off 28 balls, studded with seven sixes, and vice-captain Tilak silenced his critics with a top-notch unbeaten 51 off 22 balls.
India posted a mammoth 211 for 6 and even though an unheralded Hasan Nawaz (96 off 51 balls) gave everything he had to make a match of it, the result offered no surprises.
Pakistan were stopped at 192 for 6 in the end and India extended their dominance over the arch-rivals to take the head-to-head since the start of the 2024 T20 World Cup to 6-0.
In between, Nawaz punished the Indian spinners before Jasprit Bumrah’s experience (0/33 in 4 overs) and Washington Sundar’s (2/29 in 4 overs) calmness ensured that there were no surprises in the end.
On the hockey field too, it was India all the way as captain Harmanpreet Singh rose to the occasion with a brace to star in a 5-1 win over Malaysia that didn’t secure gold for the second time but also ensured a ticket to the 2028 Olympics.
The men’s team’s gold came a day after the women defeated higher-ranked defending champions China 1-0 in the final to clinch the title after 44 years and also book an Olympic spot. This is the first time that both the men and women have ended on top in the same edition of the continental showpiece.
Captain Harmanpreet (11th and 57th), Jugraj Singh (23rd), Hardik Singh (42nd) and Shilanand Lakra (54th) scored for India. For Malaysia, Shello Silverius pulled one back in the 14th minute. With his twin strikes, Harmanpreet also ended as the tournament’s top-scorer with 12 goals to his credit.
Aman shines on wrestling mat
Aman upgraded his Asian Games bronze to gold while Antim Panghal’s bid to become only the second Indian woman wrestler to win the continental title ended in disappointment after being outclassed by Japan’s Moe Miyooka inthe final.
India signed off with six medals — two gold, two silver and two bronze –in one of the best shows in the event, especially after missing out on top-of-the-podium place in Hangzhou Games in 2023.
Amanvheld his nerve to beat North Korea’s reigning World Champion Chong Song Han 10-7 in the men’s 57kg final.
This was India’s second wrestling gold after Sujeet Kalkal’s sensational title win on Friday.
India previously won two wrestling gold medals at Asian Games after the 2018 Jakarta game when Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat had triumphed in their respective men’s and women’s events.