Earlier, the Indian men’s hockey team avoided a potential banana peel to defeat South Korea in the semi-final of the men’s hockey event at the Asian Games on Wednesday. Lovlina Borgohain lost in the 75kg final to claim a silver medal on a day when Indian archers Ojas Deotale and Jyothi Surekha Vennam beat their South Korean opponents by one-point to clinch their second gold medal in archery.
Story continues below this ad
The Indian duo of Dipika Pallikal and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu rallied to enter the final of the mixed double squash event with a 2-1 win over their opponents from Hong Kong. In Wrestling, Sunil Kumar kept India in the hunt for its first Greco Roman medal in 13 years at the Asian Games by reaching the 87kg bronze play-off.
Vinayakk Mohanarangan along side Amit Kamath will be on the blog today assisted by Rahul Sadhu and Sayak Dutta, with our man on the ground in Hangzhou, Mihir Vasavda, sending us updates as well. Also providing her inputs for badminton is Shivani Naik. You can read all of our top stories by clicking on this link.
Follow 2023 Asian Games Day 11 highlights below
Read less
A line from Neeraj Chopra in an interview with Sony: "Main uske liye zyada kush hoon," he says about Kishore Kumar Jena, who had a stunning Personal Best night.
monthly limit of free stories.
with an Express account.
The first throw looked good, I'll look at the video again to see how far it might have gone. Surprisingly, they didn't measure. I am still puzzled, apparently the second athelte threw before they could even measure my throw and they lost the mark then. I protested but then it was breezy and other athletes' were cooling down and it was getting unfair on them. So they offered me a re-throw and I accepted.
It's the first time something like this has happened with me in a competition this big.
It happened with Jyothi, me, and jena. So there's something wrong but still, we have shown how hard we've worked and won medals. I haven't seen anything like this in a big tournament. Athletes can get mentally down, even Jyothi was affected. (From Mihir Vasavda)
Indian men will face Japan in the gold medal match. Japan defeated China 3-2.
We have had another fantastic evening for Indian athletics. But here's something amazing. Sri Lanka's 18-year-old Tharushi Karunarathne ran a stunning 800m race to win gold. And in a few minutes immediately after that, she ran in the women's 4x400m to clinch bronze for Sri Lanka. The anchor leg, that too. Superb.
“Harmilan ne tan mere pait to hi daudna sikhya hai (Harmilan has learnt running from my womb). When Harmilan was born, we prayed to god that she would become a runner like the two of us,” Harmilan's mother Madhuri Saxena Bains, an 800m silver medallist at Busan Asian Games, had told The Indian Express earlier. (READ MORE)
Reigning Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra claimed gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games, but only after considerable drama and a stiff competition from his compatriot Kishore Kumar Jena, who ended with silver. Neeraj’s medal came after a bizarre goof up at the start, with the officials seemingly unable to measure the distance of Neeraj’s first heave into the night. The throw looked like it had landed near the 85m mark. But after a long discussion between the officials, with Neeraj hovering by their table, they decided that the Indian should re-throw his first attempt due to the technical glitch on their part.
Neeraj, while looking disappointed, calmly walked back to his mark to throw his first attempt once again. Over 15 minutes had passed after the first throw, when Neeraj took his rethrow. This time it landed at the 82.38m mark. (READ MORE)
"First throw, it was a very good throw. But they weren't ready to measure it. Same thing also happened with Annu yesterday. I don't know why they are doing this with Indian athletes. They are trying to cheat us, disturb our athletes. Neeraj's first throw was a very good one," says Anju Bobby George. (From Mihir Vasavda)
Men's High Jump: Sarvesh Anil Kushare finishes with a joint Season Best clearance of 2.26m. And he will finish 4th on countback. A creditable effort in a strong field.
And India have officially gotten past their record of 16 gold medals set in Indonesia. Kind of fitting that the milestone breaking 17th gold medal came from Neeraj Chopra.
A lovely moment there as Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Kumar Jena celebrate along with the relay squad in the end.
Athletics, Men's 4x400m relay: GOLD MEDAL ALERT! The Asian Record holders have lived up to their billing as Muhammad Anas, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal, Rajesh Ramesh have beaten Qatar to take gold in the men's 4x400 relay. A kiss to the relay by Rajesh at the end. It is not a sub-3 minute timing but the Indians get 3:01.58. (The official website says it's a NR, but that can't be true as that would be the sub-3 they ran in Budapest)
Men's 4x400m relay: The Asian record holders are back in action. Here's the quartet.
NEERAJ CHOPRA DEFENDS HIS ASIAN GAMES GOLD! And it is an India 1-2 as well as Kishore Kumar Jena has a night to remember. A stunning Personal Best for him while Neeraj had to come up with the best throw of his season to win it.
Neeraj Chopra's last throw is a foul. Our wait for Kishore Kumar Jena's last throw.
India's 1-2 is confirmed. Neeraj's last throw coming up, followed by Kishore Kumar Jena's.
Women's 4x400m relay: Also worth noting that the 3:27.85 by the Indian quartet is the new national record.
Kishore Kumar Jena has a different throwing technique to Neeraj, where he flings himself forward while Neeraj goes sideways. This time Kishore has fallen forward beyond the white line. That's a foul for real.
Neeraj Chopra's 5th throw is 80.80. Didn't like the elevation it got, by the looks of things. Kishore will go next.
Athletics, Women's 4x400m relay: SILVER MEDAL ALERT. Indian team of Vithya, Aishwarya, Prachi, Subha clock 3:27.85, which is better than their Games Record from 2018 when they won gold. But Bahrain have also broken the Games Record for 3:27.65 and took gold.
88.88 from NEERAJ CHOPRA! WOW! What a way to respond. He goes top once again.
And Kishore Kumar Jena with YET ANOTHER PERSONAL BEST! He goes past 87, to now register 87.54.
THIS IS WORLD CLASS FROM THE TWO INDIANS. Neeraj-Kishore 1-2, and another huge hug from Neeraj.
Athletics,, Women's Triple Jump final: 13.34 is the best for Sheena Nellickal. And she will finish 6th.
So we are now down to the last 8. And the order goes by reverse for the rest of the event, which means Neeraj will throw 7th and Kishore will go through 8th.
India beat China in Bridge semis; to play Hong Kong in final
India beat China in semifinals and qualified to the finals of Men's Team event in Bridge. After a gruelling six sets played over two days (each of 16 boards), India prevailed over China by 180.6 to 170 International Match Points (with a Carry over of 1.6) 62-22, 22-22, 17-31, 16-36, 37-24, 25-35), in their semi final match. It was a humdinger with the Indian men soaking the pressure well in the end. The two-day finals will be played on 5-6 October over 6 segments and 96 boards.
In the other semi final, Hong Kong beat Japan by 187.1 - 139 to reach the finals. The gold medal clash is expected to be a tough and a close affair.
Athletics, Men's High Jump: A third-time clearance at 2.23 and a second-time clearance at 2.26 for Swapnil Kusare!
Also, confirmation that Kishore Kumar Jena's 86.77 means he has also breached the Olympic qualification mark set by World Athletics. He has qualified for PAris 2024.
WOW! KISHORE KUMAR JENA! He has thrown a massive Personal Best of 86.77 and has gone to the top of the standings! Neeraj is now 2nd and he is the first person to hug Kishore and congratulate him of course.
Neeraj Chopra is back for his 3rd throw. And he doesn't like it at all, so walks over the white line for a foul. We are not going to predict how long it might have been because there is no point.
There is a gap that opened up as defending champion Balew pulled ahead at the final bell. There was no stopping him. But Avinash Sable pushes himself well enough to finish 2nd, and with a handy margin. We will await the official timings. Photo by Mihor Vasavda
Athletics, Men's 5000m: On Tuesday, Parul Chaudhary won 5000m gold (Sensationally!) to go with her 3000m steeplechase silver. Now 3000m steeplechase gold medallist for men, is in the mix for the 5000m podium too.
Athletics, Men's 5000m: Avinash Sable is back. And he is running this race with Gulveer Singh also in action from India..
This has to go down as the the most ridiculous international javelin event we have seen.
OK, now Kishore Kumar Jena's throw is given the red flag by the official. But the replay shows it didn't look like a foul. And now Neeraj is involved in another discussion with the officials, arguing Jena's case. And after a delay it is being given as a valid throw. But we are still waiting for the measure. It's 79.76.
He doesn't look happy after the throw. This has been registered as a 84.49, an improvement over his first throw.
Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 87Kg: Bronze Medal ALERT! Over on the mats, we have India's first medal. Sunil Kumar wins the bronze defeating AZISBEKOV Atabek of KGZ 2-1 in a low-scoring affair.
Sri Lanka and India with a last-stretch overtake of the Chinese athlete Wang. Harmilan Bains has her 2nd medal of the Games, with a superb finish to overtake Wang and clock 2:03.75
There is clearly some measurement issues, even the broadcast graphics don't seem to be aligned. No celebration from Neeraj this time and his first attempt is now measured at 82.38. Might still be good enough to win, you never know but that was poor from the organisers. Making Neeraj retake for no fault of his. Anyway, we move on. Kishore Kumar Jena also starts off with a 80+ throw, 81.26 and we have a 1-2 from India
Mihir Vasavda says Neeraj is retaking the throw. What a bizarre start. And the retake is nowhere close
Close to Barshim's greatness, Sarvesh Anil Kushare & Jesse Sandesh have a chance to learn and see the best in action. The Indians start off with first-time clearances at 2.10 and 2.15.
The three judges are finding the spot where the javelin landed, it looks like. (From Mihir Vasavda)
How many of you predicted a false start in javelin throw?
Multiple short meetings, lite of gesturing going on in the middle. Looks like some issue with the scoring system but total confusion. Neeraj not moving away from judge's desk. Now, the whole process is halted as China is awarded another gold medal and their anthem plays. (From Mihir Vasavda)
Neeraj Chopra in deep discussion with the officials. There is surely some confusion over the measurement, but what exactly, we don't know.
Lots of confusion. Athletes still standing around. This is so bizarre.
He likes it. And that is usually a good sigh. The spear has landed somewhere near 85 for Neeraj Chopra. But there is no official update on the throws yet. Everyone seem to be waiting for it. There is a lot of talk going on. Is the measuring device not working?
And here we go, the event is underway. Neeraj to throw 2nd, Kishore to go 4th. Both the Indians can set the pace early for this final.
A nice 22 degree Celcius in Hangzhou at the moment with the javelin throw final about to start. Very cloudy conditions with 85 percent humidity, and a wind speed of three metres per second. A nice night for javelin throwing.
Here's a look at the revised start list and in case you missed it, Arshad Nadeem was entered to make this another fascinating contest, but he has since withdrawn.
While one Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will be in action soon in javelin, so will be another in the venue. Mutaz Barshim, an all-time great athlete, will be showing his craft.
Read more about it by Mihir Vasavda here:
Athletic's men's javelin throw: It's been yet another season defined by high level consistency for Neeraj Chopra. Since his Tokyo winning mark of 87.58, he has constantly surpassed it. What's in store today as he looks to close another memorable season? Here's a look at his throws from events in 2023:
Doha DL: 88.67m
Lausanne DL: 87.66m
World Championships (QUAL): 88.77m
World Championships (FINAL): 88.17m
Zurich DL: 85.71m
Diamond League Final: 83.80
Badminton Individual event update
Kodai wins 21-16, 21-17 vs Kidambi Srikanth.
Kidambi Srikanth gets a half smash and another straight pinpoint perfect one on the line. They look gorgeous when the score reads 14-14.
Then he's stretched on the far forehand. 14-15.
Backhand into the net. 14-16
Banger. Sweet deception of the wrist that goes straight and wrongfoots Kodai. 15-16.
Kodai into net. 16-16.
Long rally. Srikanth sends wide. 16-17.
Soft winner for Kodai 16-18.
Kodai misses, goes wide. 17-18.
Blur or misses.
Kodai cross smash. Srikanth dive into nothingness. Kodai wins. 21-16, 21-17.
What a victory from Saurav Ghosal!! Effortless!
Squash, Men's Singles, Semifinal: Saurav Ghosal keeps his quest for the first Asiad individual gold alive. A dominant win for India's No 1. He wins 11-2, 11-1, 11-5. Saurav will next take on NG Eain Yow of Malaysia, who he had defeated in the men's team semifinal 3-1.
We are less than 30 minutes away from an athletics session that so many have been waiting for. Here's a look at the schedule
Men’s High Jump Final: Sarvesh Anil Kushare & Jesse Sandesh -- 4:30 pm
Men’s Javelin Throw Final: Neeraj Chopra & Kishore Kumar Jena – 4:35 pm
Women’s Triple Jump Final: Sheena Nellickal – 4:40 pm
Women’s 800m Final: KM Chanda & Harmilan Bains – 4:55 pm
Men’s 5000 Final: Avinash Sable & Gulveer Singh – 5:10 pm
Women’s 4X400m Relay Final: 5:45 pm
Men’s 4X400m Relay Final: 6:05 pm
Men's Singles, Semifinal: The early lead has gone away in no time for Henry. Saurav Ghosal has moved up 7-4 and is 4 points away from the final
Kidambi Srikanth trails 21-16, 11-9 vs Kodai Naraoka
An error into the net for 3-4 and a drop wobbling wide for 4-5 -- two familiar mistakes that make followers pull their hair out. Two fine winners post that can't make up for the frustration. Kodai too smacks wide, but Srikanth errors hurt him more. Kodai keeps getting his points along the V, testing Srikanth's far defense on opposite flanks. The horror serve in the end. The horror. The absolute horror.
(By Shivani Naik)
Squash, Men's Singles Semifinal: Henry gets into a 2-point lead at the start of game 3, and that is the longest he has stayed in front in this match. But quickly, Ghosal makes it 3-3.