Indians disappoint in Taekwondo
India did not have the best of outing in taekwondo competitions on the 12th day of the 17th Asian Games with Aarti Khakal and Rajan Pandia Anand crashing out in their respective events, here on Wednesday. While Aarti lost 8-15 to Ganiya Alzak of Kazakhstan in the round of 32 encounter of women's 57kg category, Anand was shown the door by Yonghyun Park of Korea 1-7 in the round of 16 of the men's 80 kg category at the Ganghwa Dolmens Gymnasium. In the women's 57kg category, Aarti started her contest on a bright note by pocketing the first round 2-0. The Indian continued her good showing but lost the second round 3-4 to the Kazakh girl. But Aarti was completely off colour in the third round which the Kazakh girl pocketed comfortably with a 3-11 margin to seal the match and a place in the last 16 in her favour. Anand, on the other hand, fought valiantly in the first two rounds but his Korean opponent did just enough to garner a point each from both the rounds. The Indian managed to earn a point in the third round but also gave five points to lose the encounter. later in the day, another Indian Nakul Malhotra will face Elias El Hedari of lebanon in the quarterfinals of the men's +87kg division.
Women sepaktakraw team loses
The Indian women's sepaktakraw team finished at the bottom of Regu competition's Group A after losing its last preliminary match to China here on Wednesday. The Indian team went down 9-21 7-21 in 26 minutes to bow out of the competition without managing to secure a single win. In a lopsided contest, the Indians were hardly a match for the Chinese, bronze-medallists from the 2010 Games in Guangzhou, and were outplayed quite easily by the continental powerhouse.
India crash out in men's volleyball
India fought hard before bowing out in the quarterfinals of the men's volley competition after losing 2-3 against fancied Japan at the 17th Asian Games, here on Wednesday. The Indians started brilliantly and pocketed the first set 25-20 in 24 minutes. But Japan got their acts together soon to drew parity by winning second set 25-19 in 23 minutes. India once again restored their lead by winning the third set 25-23 before losing the next set 20-25 to take the match into the decider. In the deciding set, it was a neck-and-neck fight between the two sides but in the end Japan held their nerves to win the set 15-13 and prevail over the Indians in the hard-fought quarterfinal duel that lasted an an hour and 53 minutes at the Songnim Gymnasium.
Indians fail to impress in canoeing
It turned out to be a disappointing outing for the Indians in canoeing and kayaking competitions as none of them could impress at the 17th Asian Games here on Wednesday. Ganeshvri Dhurwe and Champa Mourya finished fifth and seventh in kayak single women repechage 1 at the Hanam Misari Canoe/Kayak Center. Ganeshvri clocked one minute and 28.03 seconds while Champa timed 29.39 seconds to bow out of the event. India's Kuldeep Singh Keer failed to finish the race in the men's kayak single qualification heat 1. In canoe single men's last 16 1 stage, India's Prince Parmar failed to advance after finishing a disappointing a 14th in one minute and 28.80 seconds. Earlier in the day, Parmar had finished 15th in heat 1.
Women hoopsters sixth
The Indian women's basketball team finished sixth after losing the 5th-6th position classification match to Kazakhstan 47-68 at the 17th Asian Games here on Wednesday. Up against an in-form opposition, the Indians had no answer to Kazakhstan, who led from start to finish at the Hwaseong Sports Complex Gymnasium. leading 15-12 at the end of first quarter, Kazakhstan raced to a 36-22 lead at half-time.
Pathetic show by Greco-Roman wrestlers
India's Greco-Roman wrestlers have put up a dismal show compared to their freestyle counterparts as the quartet of Sandeep Yadav (66 kg), Gurpreet Singh (75 kg), Manoj Kumar (85 kg) and Dharmender Dalal (130 kg) failed to even reach the medal rounds in their respective categories. In the 130 kg category, Iranian Bashir Darzi proved to be too strong for Dalal as he beat the burly Indian 4-0 in a one-sided contest.