Asian Games: Indians men’s hockey team clinch gold

Skipper Harmanpreet Singh scored a brace in 32nd and 59th minutes, while Manpreet Singh (25th min), Amit Rohidas (36th min) and Abhishek in 48th minutes scored for India. Japan’s lone consolation was scored by Seren Tanaka off an indirect penalty corner.

Meanwhile, Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty sailed into badminton men’s doubles final at the 19th Asian Games, defeating the former world champion Malaysian duo of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the semifinal, here on Friday.

Satwik and Chirag, the world no. 3 pair, registered a 21-17, 21-12 win over the Malaysians, who are the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist, to seal the place in the final.

The opening game began was an extremely tight affair till the halfway stage as both sides not willing to let go of even an inch, with the Indian were leading 11-10 at the time of mid-game break.

After the resumption, Satwik and Chirag surged ahead with a five-point advantage, which they later extended to seven. Despite the Malaysians’ persistent efforts to narrow the gap as they managed to reduce the lead to three points. However, the Indians maintained their hold on the lead and secured the first game with a score of 21-17.

In the second game, the Indian duo swiftly established a four-point advantage and maintained their dominance, reaching an 11-3 lead as they approached the interval.

Satwik and Chirag persistently maintained their aggressive strategy, widening the gap to 15-5. Despite a few errors that gifted points to the Malaysians, the Indian duo maintained a firm hold on the match, enjoying a comfortable lead.

The Malaysians fought tenaciously to make a comeback in the match until the very end. Nevertheless, the Indians stood their ground, not allowing them to regain composure, and concluded the match by winning the second game with a score of 21-12.

Earlier in the competition, the men’s team clinched the silver while HS Prannoy bagged a bronze.