India win shooting gold as Gulveer takes 10,000m silver at Asian Games

Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet ended India's long wait for an Asian Games shooting gold, while Gulveer Singh won silver in the 10,000m. Baranica Elangovan also made history with pole vault bronze, but Satwik-Chirag suffered a shock exit

Nagoya: Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet ended India’s long wait for a shooting gold at the Asian Games, while long-distance runner Gulveer Singh added a silver in the men’s 10,000m. But the first-round exit of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty from the badminton men’s doubles event came as a major setback for India here on Friday.

Suruchi and Kamaljeet combined for a Games and Asian record score of 484.6 to dominate the field from start to finish and claim gold. The 19-year-old Suruchi contributed 245.7 points, while Kamaljeet added 238.9.

Their performance lifted the morale of India’s shooting contingent, which had been disappointed after missing out on gold in the 10m air rifle and failing to win a medal in the individual and team 10m air pistol events.

The gold could prove a boost for India in the remainder of the shooting competition.

The shooting ranges also produced a silver, with Aishwary Pratap Singh, Rudrankksh Patil and Niraj Kumar finishing second in the men’s 50m rifle 3-position team event. India appeared on course for gold for much of the competition, but China finished strongly to take the top spot. India aggregated 1,762 points, four behind China’s 1,766.

In athletics, Gulveer improved on the bronze he won at the 2023 Hangzhou Games by claiming silver in the men’s 10,000m. He clocked 28:29.38 to finish second.

History was also made in pole vault as Baranica Elangovan became the first Indian to win an Asian Games medal in the event. She shared the bronze with Kazakhstan’s Polina Ivanova after both cleared 4.15m and had an identical number of failed attempts.

With bronze medals from shot-putter Manpreet Kaur and the mixed table tennis pair of Diya Chitale and Manush Shah, India’s medal tally rose to 23, leaving the country 12th in the standings.

Manpreet won her first major international medal since 2023 with a best effort of 17.17m.

Aishwary and Niraj also reached the individual final of the 50m rifle 3-position event, finishing third and fourth respectively, but could not add to India’s medal tally.

The women’s hockey team, meanwhile, remained unbeaten after defeating hosts Japan 3-1 to strengthen its position in the race for a semifinal berth.

While shooting provided a much-needed boost, badminton brought India’s biggest disappointment of the day as former world No. 1 pair Satwik and Chirag suffered a shock early exit.

The two-time world championships bronze medallists lost to Thailand’s Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun 21-12, 19-21, 14-21 in a gruelling one-hour-eight-minute contest.

“It’s the mental part. Whenever we are mentally free, I think no one can beat us. But when we are stuck anywhere, we give opponents a chance to beat us,” Satwik said after the defeat.

Bronze in table tennis; kabaddi, squash advance

India had plenty to celebrate in other events, with the men’s and women’s kabaddi teams reaching the finals after beating Thailand and Nepal respectively.

In table tennis, Manush Shah and Diya Chitale secured the mixed doubles bronze after losing 0-4 to China’s Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin in the semifinals.

India also assured itself of three medals in squash, with Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar reaching the mixed doubles semifinals, while Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh advanced to the last four in singles.

Joshna, competing at a record seventh Asian Games, and Senthilkumar defeated the Philippines’ David Pelino and Jemyca Aribado 11-3, 11-5 in the mixed doubles quarterfinals.

Anahat, India’s first junior world champion and a medal contender, beat compatriot Tanvi Khanna 11-2, 11-5, 11-3 in the women’s singles quarterfinals. She will next face world No. 6 Satomi Watanabe, a bronze medallist at the Hangzhou Games.

Abhay defeated local favourite Ryonosuke Tsukue 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 to set up a semifinal against Pakistan’s Irfan Muhammad, who beat Veer Chotrani.

The men’s and women’s singles gold medallists will directly qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where squash will make its debut.

Mixed results in badminton, boxing

Despite Satwik and Chirag’s exit, India recorded some positive results in badminton.

In women’s doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand beat Hong Kong’s Hiu Yan Tsang and Lok Lok Lui 21-16, 16-21, 21-16 in a hard-fought three-game match.

The mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila also advanced to the quarterfinals with two wins.

They began with a 21-8, 21-7 victory over Maldives’ Nibal Ahmed and Aminath Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq before overcoming Malaysia’s Shevon Jemie Lai and Soon Huat Goh 22-20, 24-22.

In boxing, Sachin Siwach entered the men’s 60kg quarterfinals with a 4-1 win over Jordan’s Mohammad Adnan Abu Jajeh.

However, there was disappointment for Preeti Pawar, who received a first-round bye before losing 0-5 to North Korea’s reigning Asian Games champion Pang Chol-mi in the women’s 54kg round of 16.

Double setback in fencing

India suffered setbacks in fencing as both the men’s foil and women’s epee teams were knocked out in the round of 16.

The men’s foil team lost 27-45 to Hong Kong, while the women’s epee side went down 29-45 to Uzbekistan.