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Asian Games: History-makers Swapna, Arpinder shine as India extend golden run in athletics
Thursday, August 30, 2018 IST
Asian Games: History-makers Swapna, Arpinder shine as India extend golden run in athletics

JAKARTA: Heptathlete Swapna Barman added a dash of heroism to her historic gold medal, triple jumper Arpinder Singh personified the predictability that comes with a favourite tag, while sprinter Dutee Chand continued to rediscover herself as track-and-field remained India's happy hunting ground at the 18th Asian Games.

 
 

India at Asian Games: All Day 11 Results
 
The surprise story of the day was table tennis where old warhorse A Sharath Kamal and new sensation Manika Batra, a Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA) winner this year in People's Choice category, broke new grounds, giving India a first ever mixed doubles medal at the Asiad - a bronze.
 
As a result of these path-breaking performances, the country remained on course to better its previous edition's haul and tallied 54 medals - 11 gold, 20 silver and 23 bronze.
 
The Indian women's hockey team made its first Asian Games final in 20 years, outlasting three-time champions China 1-0 in a fiercely-contested battle.
 
Gurjit Kaur's strike from a penalty corner in the 52nd minute was the difference between the two sides, in a match that lacked the quality of a high-profile semifinal.
 
Nonetheless, the erratic show was good enough for India's first appearance in the final since the 1998 Bangkok Games.
 
Competing with a plastered face owing to a teeth injury, described as a case of infection, the battle-hardened Swapna topped the overall standings to garb her maiden Asiad gold.
 
 
The daughter of a rickshaw puller who has been bed-ridden by stroke since 2013, Swapna logged 6026 points from the seven events competed over two days. She won the high jump (1003 points) and javelin throw (872 points) events and finished second-best in shot put (707 points) and long jump (865 points).
 
Her weakest events were 100m (981 points, 5th position) and 200m in which she finished seventh with 790 points. But the tremendous overall effort was enough to make her the first heptathlete to notch up a gold at the continental showpiece.
 
Another history-maker was Arpinder, becoming the first triple jumper in 48 years to fetch a gold after Mohinder Singh Gill (1970).
 
The athlete from Punjab bossed the finals, making the gold-winning jump of 16.77m in just his third attempt and was never really threatened by the rest of the field.
 
 
Then there was Dutee, continuing to enjoy her return to top flight athletics, by adding a 200m silver to the one she clinched in the 100m event.
 
Dutee was not allowed to compete at the 2014 Commonwealth Games as she was embroiled in a hyperandrogenism case, which eventually went in her favour at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
 
 
Today, she crossed the line in 23.20 which was 0.149 slower than the gold medal winner from Bahrain, Edidiong Odiong (22.96).
 
"I have faced a lot since 2014. No one has gone through such a bad phase. I am glad that I could win two medal for the country. There is always this fear that it might come back. But more the fear, the harder I train," the diminutive runner said after finding her silver lining.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

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Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST


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