INDIAN MEN THRASH Sl 8-0
The Indian men’s hockey team started its campaign in the 17th Asian Games on a rousing note, blanking Sri lanka 8-0 with Rupinderpal Singh scoring a hat-trick here on Sunday. Rupinderpal pumped in three goals in the 12th, 45th and 46th minute, while Ramandeep Singh found the net in the 28th and 59th minute. There were also goals for Danish Mujtaba, Kangujam Chinglensana Singh and Raghunath Ramachandra at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium. Mujtaba gave India the lead in as early as the sixth minute the pool B match. Rupinderpal then converted a penalty stroke to put India 2-0 ahead. Raghunath Ramachandra made it 3-0 for the former champions in the 13th minute, helping India enjoy complete control in the first quarter. As per the new rule, the duration of the game has been reduced from 70 to 60 minutes, with four quarters of 15 minutes each. Six minutes into the second quarter, Kangujam Chinglensana Singh scored a brilliant field goal to make it 4-0, as India completely dominated proceedings in the middle. That was followed by Ramandeep making it 5-0 in favour of India. He scored one more time in the game, just before final hooter. Before that though, Rupinder added to his tally by scoring in a span of one minute.
EVES START CAMPAIGN TODAY Indian women start campaign in women’s hockey on Monday
Incheon: The Indian women’s hockey squad is commencing its Asian Games campaign here on Sunday, hoping to get into the medal bracket once again when they take on Thailand in their Group A opener at the Soenhak Stadium. India are pooled with three-time defending champions China, Malaysia and Thailand and are expected to win the matches against the last two teams which will ensure their berth in the semis, their first aim. With vice captain Deepika at the helm of defense and captain Ritu Rani guiding the others from midfield, it is being hoped that forwards Rani, Poonam Rani, Vandana Katariya and Navjot Kaur would be speedy and thrustful to break open rival defense and create opportunities to score. Thailand may not be a top team but the Indians need a big win under their belt to start their run in the tournament on an emphatic note. India had thrashed their South East Asian rivals 13-0 when they last met four years ago in the Games at Guangzhou, China.
OCA president apologises
Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah on Sunday apologised over sexual harassment cases at the Asian Games and promised action against the culprits.
Al-Sabah, however, said that these incidents are far and few in between and there must be an understanding of “different traditions”. The OCA chief said the body had acted quickly after a female volunteer accused an Iranian official of sexual harassment and allegations were made against a Palestinian footballer. Of course, that kind of accident can’t be allowed to happen,” Al-Sabah said.
“But to me also we have to understand what was the real problem ... Asia — east, west, central and south — there are a lot of different cultures in this continent. “That kind of accident can happen, you have to also analyze different traditions. We’ve to understand the other side — there were one or two cases in 15,000 persons, .000001 per cent. Volunteers are very important for us, they help us. “We apologise and hope this kind of accident will give more education to us. We will take action against those who indulge in such acts.” An Iranian equipment manager Amereh Ahmad was accused of verbally harassing a volunteer on Monday and an unnamed Palestinian footballer was accused of groping a female worker in an athletes’ village laundry on Tuesday. While Iran was asked to send the manager home, the Palestinian player has been banned from leaving the country. The organising committee has put up signs in the Games village warning against harassment, while the OCA said it had “zero tolerance” for such cases.
lee chong-wei wins
Malaysia’s world badminton number one lee Chong-Wei breezed through his first match in Incheon today at the start of his Asian Games swansong. He took just 25 minutes to see off Nepal’s Ratna Jit Tamang 21-10 21-13 in the men’s team event -- but after the match lee said the bright lights in the stadium had been a problem. “This was my first match and I just wanted to try out how I felt. I think this court is very bad for me because the light is not so good. Normally there are only lights side to side (at either end), but here you have them all around so you are looking into the light. I think it’s tough for all the players,” lee said. Despite his gripe, the usually tight-lipped Malaysian star seemed more relaxed than usual. “I’m just going to do my best and enjoy my last Asian Games,” he said.
Rowers qualify for final:
Indian rowers qualified for the final round in men’s eight event after they finished second in the heats on the second day of competitions. The Indian team, which included Bajrang lal Takhar, Robin Ulahannan, Ranjit Singh, Sawan Kumar, Mohammad Azad and Maninder Singh, clocked 5:53.58 to cover the distance of 2000m behind the Chinese team (5:46.01). The Indians were third midway into the race bur recovered later on to finish second. All the five teams in the heat qualified for the final round to be held on September 25. In men’s double sculls heats, Om Prakash and Baban Bhokanal Dattu finished third, clocking 6:41.67. They will now contest in the repechage round on Tuesday as only heat winning team makes it to the finals.