Asian Games Day 2: India open their gold medal account as the medal tally reaches double-digits, Rohan Bopanna disappoints

India finished Day 2 in 6th position on the medals table, with 2 golds, 3 silvers, and 6 bronze medals.

Asian Games Day 2: India open their gold medal account as the medal tally reaches double-digits, Rohan Bopanna disappoints

(L) Rohan Bopanna; (R) From left to right: Divyansh Singh Panwar, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Rudrankksh Patil (Via India TV News/Eastern Eye)

The Indian team started day 2 at the 2022 Asian Games from where they left it yesterday as they clinched as many as 6 medals, including 2 gold, to take their medal tally to 11. The beginning of the day couldn’t have been more enormous as the men’s 10m Air Rifle team comprising of Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudrankksh Patil and Divyansh Singh Panwar shattered the world record. The team scored a combined total of 1893.7 en route to opening India’s gold medal account in this edition at Hangzhou.

The young Aishwary then returned to clinch an individual bronze in the same discipline to emulate the feat achieved by Ramita Jindal on the opening day to become India’s second dual-medalist in the current edition of the Games.

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Then came the turn of the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol team consisting of Adarsh Singh, Vijayveer Singh, and Anish Bhanwala, who finished third with a score of 1718, behind China and Korea, who finished first and second respectively. India missed out on another medal in shooting for the day by a whisker as Vijayveer finished on an agonizing fourth spot in the individual event.

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Apart from shooting, the Indian women’s cricket team clinched the yellow metal on their Asian Games debut. On expected lines, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side finished on top of the podium and gave India its second gold medal of the day by defeating Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the summit clash. It was a tough contest and a see-saw battle as Sri Lanka was very much in the game until the last moments of the contest. With this India has finished Day 2 in 6th position on the medals table, with 2 golds, 3 silvers, and 6 bronze medals to their name.

The Indian rowers capped off their participation in Hangzhou in fine fashion as they added two more medals to their tally to finish with 5 medals, their most ever at the Asiad. The Indian men’s quadruple sculls team and the men’s coxed eight team won bronze medals as the rowing team won 2 silver and 3 bronze medals in total to sign off with a historic performance.

Related: Rudrankksh Patil, Divyansh Panwar, and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar clinch India’s first gold of the Hangzhou Asian Games in Men’s 10m Air Rifle Team event

Rohan Bopanna makes a shock exit, Rugby Sevens team finishes last

In other results of the day, the Indian 3×3 basketball teams, making their debut at the Games, had a mixed day in the office. While the men’s team notched up an impressive 20-16 victory over Malaysia in their opening pool game, the women’s cagers lost 14-19 to Uzbekistan in their group. The Indian women’s rugby team, making a comeback to the Asian Games after missing out on the last few editions, failed to impress as they finished last in their group and then lost 7-24 to Kazakhstan to 7th and last overall.

Rohan Bopanna (L) and Indian Women's Rugby Sevens team (R) asian games
Rohan Bopanna (L) and Indian Women’s Rugby Sevens team (R) (Via OnManorama/ Hindustan Times)

However, the biggest result of the day was one of Indian tennis greats and the defending champion Rohan Bopanna‘s shock loss in the second round of the men’s doubles. Partnering Yuki Bhambri and seeded first and guaranteed of finishing on the podium, if not on top of it, the Indian pair lost 6-2, 3-6, (6-10) to Uzbekistan after receiving a bye in the opening round. The others, though, progressed to their respective next round trying to make up of the loss of one of India’s best medal bet in Hangzhou.

In swimming, the Indian athletes had a good outing as Srihari Natraj made it to his second final in two days as well as the men’s 4×200 meter relay team Likith Prema in 100m men’s breaststroke. The Indian boxers did not disappoint either as apart from Arundhati Chaudhary in women’s 66 KG category, all other pugilists in the fray advanced to the next round with comprehensive victories. Moreover, India also ensured themselves another media, as Roshibina Devi Naorem made it to the semifinals of the Wushu’s women’s 60KG Sanda category.

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