Kolkata, Sep 15 (IANS) Pranab Bardhan and Shibnath De Sarkar, who won the gold in bridge at the recently-concluded Asian Games, were felicitated by the Tollygunge club on the sidelines of an invitational bridge tournament here on Saturday.

Along with the duo, bronze medal winner Debabrata Mazumder along with their coach and non-playing captain Debashish Roy were also acknowledged.

Another bronze medal winner Sumit Mukherjee could not be present at the felicitation programme due to a prior engagement.

Meanwhile, Bangur Cement, comprising former international Debashish Roy (captain), S.K. Ienger, Uttam Gupta, Kamal Mukherjee and Suman Mukherjee bounced back into the reckoning and finished at the top with 137.71 Victory Points (VPs) at the end of the ten-round Swiss league on the second day.

Overnight leader Dakshin Kalikata Sangsad (DKS) could not repeat Friday's performance but finished second with 133.40 VPs.

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By Tridib Baparnash

New Delhi, Sep 10 (IANS) From digging wells to selling onions to working in a petrol pump to representing India at the Rio Olympics while his mother was in a coma, India's rowing star Dattu Baban Bhokanal has overcome every obstacle in life before winning the gold medal as part of India's quadruple scull team at the recently-concluded Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Hailing from Chandwad village near Nashik in Maharashtra, Dattu, the elder son of a well-digger, could hardly afford his studies after the division of his joint family.

It was in that moment, when he was still in fifth standard, that he decided to join his father as a daily wage earner. Since then, he has taken a number of odd jobs to support his family, which also included his two younger brothers and an ailing mother.

After the death of his father, he joined the Indian Army which started a new chapter in his life -- a chapter which brought him into the world of sports and eventually to the Asiad gold.

"It was around 2004-05, I was in fifth standard when our family was divided. After that, we could not even afford two meals a day and it was then that I decided to start working with my father, who used to dig wells," Dattu told IANS in an interview.

"But I continued my studies while doing all sorts of odd jobs which included masonry, waiter in marriage ceremonies, helper in farms, driving tractors and JCBs, transportation of goods," he said.

In 2007, he left school and started working at a petrol pump where he was for around four years till his father died in December 2011.

"I used to earn around Rs 3,000 every month. Together with my dad's earnings, we managed to make ends meet. But after his death, the financial burden fell on me as I was the sole bread earner of the family.

"I left school in 2007 but rejoined in 2010. At that time I used to work at the petrol pump at night and used to go to school during the day," he added.

His real journey to the Asiad gold started after he joined the army in 2012. The 27-year-old said the decision was driven more by the need to serve his family than serving the nation.

"Three months after the death of my father, I joined the army to support my family. My mother also used to keep unwell and her health was my biggest concern. There might be lack of food in a poor family but there is no dearth of love and affection," he said.

"When I worked at the petrol pump, I used to run before leaving for school and that helped me get selected in the army. Despite all the hardships, I managed to score 52 per cent in my Class X exams.

"By the end of 2012, I battled hydrophobia and started rowing under the guidance of my coach. In 2013, I was selected for the Army Rowing Node (ARN) in Pune for better training. After six months of practice, I struck two gold medals at the national championships and that was a confidence-booster," he added.

Dattu was quite candid about his craze for airplanes when he described how he used to gaze at the night sky wondering what's inside the aircraft.

"When I used to work at the pump, I slept in the nearby fields and in the night sky I could see planes flying. I always used to dream what was inside the aircraft and then came 2014 when I qualified for the Asian Games in Incheon (South Korea).

"But unfortunately, things didn't go my way and I fell unconscious, probably because of the pressure of performing at the international stage for the first time. After returning, I suffered a back injury but came back well to become Asia's best rower from 2016 to 2018," he added.

But his biggest heartbreak came in December, 2016 when his mother met an accident and went into a coma. "But I managed to keep myself composed as I had to represent the country in the Rio Olympics," he said.

Asked about his Asiad gold in 2018, Dattu explained how he battled high fever to bring glory to the nation. "I had 106 degree fever during the gold medal winning feat during the 2018 Asian Games. But there was a motivation from inside," he said.

But even after achieving so much, Dattu is still grounded as he had no hesitation in admitting he still doesn't have a home of his own.

"Even after representing India at the highest level in global competitions like the Olympics, Asian Championship, Asian Games, I still don't have a proper house. I still stay with my two younger brothers," he said.

Asked about his personal goals -- such as getting married -- the tall army man had a quick reply, "Not in the next two years... my focus is an Olympic gold."

(Tridib Baparnash can be contacted at tridib.b@ians.in)

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New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Alok Kumar Verma on Thursday felicitated sailor Harshita Tomar who won the bronze medal in the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia. Harshita's mother Rani Tomar is a CBI official.

The 16-year-old, Harshita won the bronze in 4.7 Laser event of sailing competition at the Asiad. She had totalled 62 points after race 12 to finish third.

She has earlier won 19 gold, three silver and five bronze medals at national swimming competitions.

The Director praised the young sailor for her achievements at such a young age.

"On behalf of the CBI family, he extended best wishes to Harshita and her family and assured her all possible assistance from the CBI in her future endeavours," a statement said.

Verma also praised her mother Rani Tomar, an official in CBI, for her wonderful parenting.

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New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) Twitter recorded 12 million tweets on the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, it was announced on Thursday.

The two-week event generated 12 million Tweets, from the opening ceremony on August 18 until the closing ceremony on September 2, according to a statement.

The closing ceremony was also something to remember. From the amazing fireworks, athletes and volunteers parade, to performers by national and international artists, ClosingCeremonyAsianGames2018 succeeded to amaze the world, generating 1.8 million Tweets related to the event.

India sent the second highest number of tweets, while the host nation was placed at number one. Among the events, badminton was the most mentioned on Twitter.

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New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Army chief General Bipin Rawat said on Wednesday that if Pakistan stops cross border terrorism, India will have no hesitation in extending its hand of friendship to it.

Responding to a question on how Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra displayed sportsman spirit when he bowed his head and shook hands with Pakistan's bronze medallist Arshad Nadeem during the medal distribution ceremony at the recently-concluded Asian Games in Indonesia, Rawat reiterated India's position by asking Pakistan to stop sponsoring terror from across the border.

"Let Pakistan take the initiative first by stopping cross border terror. If they manage to stop terrorism from their side, we will act like Neeraj Chopra," Rawat told reporters on the sidelines of a felicitation ceremony for the Army athletes here.

The 20-year-old Chopra, who clinched the gold in the men's javelin throw event at the Asiad, won millions of hearts when he bowed his head and shook hands with Arshad, to which the bronze medallist Pakistani reciprocated promptly in kind.

On being asked about the current situation in the Kashmir valley, since the implementation of President's rule in the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir, Rawat was optimistic that the situation will improve.

"I can say this with conviction that their families have realised that terrorism isn't the best way forward. The mothers want their sons to return to the right track and if the trend continues, I am sure we can find a way for peace to return in the valley," he said.

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New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Chief of Army Staff Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said that the performance of army players at the Asian Games is just a trailer and the next target is to improve the country's medals tally at the Tokyo Olympics.

Rawat said that although he expected more medals from the army players, he is confident that those who missed the podium at the Asiad will train harder and bring laurels for the country in future.

"I am sure that these athletes will continue to put in more efforts and give us more and more medals. Asian Games is just a trailer, you will get to watch the full movie during the Olympics and I hope it will be a five star movie. That will be our endeavour for mission Olympics," Rawat told reporters during an army felicitation event here.

"We had 73 representatives of the Indian Army which included 66 athletes. We won 11 medals including four gold and four silver and three bronze medals. I expected some more medals, but I know that they will train harder, and the medal prospects who could not win medals this time will bring medals," he added.

Rawat said that the athletes have asked for more international exposure while interacting with him.

"They spoke to me about the need for more international exposure. They want to compete with the world's best players. This exposure boosts an athlete's confidence," he said.

"We have seen our athletes perform well in home conditions, but they fail in international conditions. That's why international exposure with good foreign coaches will be of great help with only two years left for the Tokyo Olympics," he added.

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Jakarta, Sep 5 (IANS) The torch relay of the Asian Para Games commenced on Wednesday, starting from Solo city in Central Java province, for the sporting gala for Asian athletes with disabilities.

The relay began from Mrapen, the site of the geological eternal flame in Grobokan province situated in central Indonesia, and will be taken to several spots in the province before it continues on to cities across the archipelagic country, the committee revealed in a statement.

The flame will head to some big cities located in the eastern parts of the country and will travel to those in the central part of the country as well as the western parts of the nation, reports Xinhua news agency.

The torch is set to arrive in the country's capital of Jakarta at the venue of the multi-sport event on September 30.

The Asian Para Games, staged every four years after the Asian Games, are scheduled to be held from October 6-13.

Tickets will be given free to fans with disabilities. As many as 2,800 athletes and 1,800 officials from 41 countries and regions will participate in 18 sports at the Para Games, according to Indonesia's youth and sport ministry.

Among the sports are badminton, basketball, table tennis, swimming, chess, cycling, fencing and others, it said.

The Asian Para Games were first held in Guangzhou in 2010 and then in 2014 in South Korea.

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New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the medal winners of the recently concluded 18th Asian Games at his residence here on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister congratulated the medal winners and complimented them for their exemplary performance enabling India to register its best ever medal tally at the Asian Games, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

He told the medal winners that their sporting feats have raised India's stature and pride. He expressed the hope that the medal winners will remain grounded and would not lose focus due to fame and accolades.

"During the interaction, Prime minister urged the sports persons to use technology as an aid to improve their performance. He added that sports persons should continue their self-improvement by using technology aided critical analysis of their performance as well as those of top players in the world.

"Prime Minister expressed happiness in seeing young talents rise from the small towns, rural areas and from poor background and win medals for the nation. He said that there is real potential in the rural areas and we should continue nurturing those talents. He added that the outside world is unaware of the day-to-day struggles a sports person has to go through," the statement said.

"PM Modi urged the sports persons not to rest based on the laurels achieved and asked them to strive harder for greater glory. He said that the biggest challenge for the medal winners will start now and they should never lose their goal of being in the Olympic Games podium," it added.

Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore was also present on the occasion.

India had garnered a record medal haul at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia, by bagging 69 medals, beating the previous best of 65 registered at the Guangzhou edition in 2010.

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By Debayan Mukherjee

Kolkata, Sep 5 (IANS) Manika Batra, who created history by becoming the first Indian female paddler to win an Asian Games medal, is now planning to work overtime in order to improve her reflexes and agility and come close to matching her Asian counterparts by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Manika, who built on her Commonwealth Games (CWG) high by winning a bronze with veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal in the mixed doubles category in table tennis, was no match for Wang Manyu of China in the pre-quarterfinals of the women's singles.

Though it was the best-ever outing for the country in the sport at the Asian Games, with the men's team also bagging bronze, Manika said she has her eyes set on a podium finish at the Olympics in two years' time and for that she needs to catch up with the mighty Chinese and other strong Asian players.

"I gave my hundred percent against Wang Manyu, but I realised I have to improve a lot to beat them. I will prepare well for the coming tournaments," Manika told IANS in an interview.

"As a team we are in a good shape right now. In singles we have to improve a lot, especially when we play with Asians. Their reflexes are so good. Personally, I have to improve my reflexes and agility to match them.

"So I will work on that till the Olympics and try to match them there," said Manika, who showed signs of ending Singaporean supremacy in the discipline by choking out Mengyu Yu in straight sets to clinch a historic first-ever gold medal in women's singles of the CWG earlier this year.

The 23-year old bagged four medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as India finished with a rich haul of eight.

Besides her game, Manika also aims to break into the top-40 rankings. Currently, the Delhi girl is ranked World No 56.

"Personally, my goal would be to break into top 30 or 40. I am 56 right now, so I have to improve that. To improve my rankings, I have to play many tournaments abroad, so I am preparing for that as well."

Manika, who will take part in the Belgium Open, starting from September 23, and the Swedish Open, from November 15, also revealed that she has plans to play for a European club next year but it's too early to speak on that, she added.

On her and Kamal's bronze medal winning performance in the semifinals of the mixed doubles match where they ended up with bronze, Manika said she never wanted to come back empty-handed from Jakarta.
"It was not difficult, but, of course, since all Asians come together at the Asian Games, the challenge is stiffer as compared to Commonwealth Games. In my mind, it was there that it would be difficult... but when I reached Jakarta, I thought that I had to do something here, I had to beat someone," she said.

Kamal and Manika played four matches in a day and only the opener against Malaysia was comfortable.

In the semis, Kamal and Manika made life tough for China's Yingsha Sun and Wang Sun before going down 9-11, 5-11, 13-11, 4-11, 8-11.

(Debayan Mukherjee can be contacted at debayan.m@ians.in )

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By Ajeyo Basu

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) A record medals tally along with matching the largest ever gold medal haul, success in little known sports and disappointments in wrestling, boxing and kabaddi were the hallmarks of India's performance at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta.

India ended up at the eighth spot with 15 gold, 24 silver 30 bronze for a highest ever total of 69 medals. India has thus surpassed their previous highest tally of 65 medals which they registered at the 2010 edition in Guangzhou.

There were several firsts this year. Medals in rowing, wushu, sepaktakraw, kurash, equestrian and bridge -- sports hardly known in India -- were highly encouraging.

As was the case with past Games, athletics brought a huge haul of medals. India claimed a tally of 7 gold, 10 silver and 2 bronze medals from athletics at this year's Asiad.

Indian athletes recorded their best tally at the continental extravaganza since the inaugural edition in 1951.

India's best ever performance in Asian Games athletics came at the inaugural edition in 1951 when they hosted the event in New Delhi. That year, Indian athletes had clinched 10 gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze.

Indian athletes had won seven gold medals at the 2002 edition as well, but had only managed a total of 17 medals, two less than this year.

Indian athletes were third best after global powerhouse China and Bahrain. The Chinese took home 12 gold, and equal number of silver and nine bronze medals for a total of 33 medals.

Bahrain, powered by their Africa-born athletes, also won 12 gold, along with six silver and seven bronze medals.

Arpinder Singh ended India's 48-year wait for a gold medal in men's triple jump with an effort of 16.77 metres in the final. Before the 25-year-old Arpinder, the previous champion was Mohinder Singh Gill in 1970 with an effort of 16.11m.

Swapna Barman also created history by winning the women's heptathlon title. Swapna's triumph in the women's heptathlon is the first ever gold for India in the event at the Asiad. Swapna posted a score of 6026 points. Purnima Hembram, the other Indian in the fray, finished fourth with 5837 points.

In men's javelin, reigning Asian champion Neeraj Chopra created a new national record on his way to the gold medal. Neeraj threw 88.06 metres in his third attempt to clinch gold. Neeraj's gold is India's second medal in the event in Asiad history. Gurtej Singh had taken a bronze at the 1982 edition in New Delhi.

Manjit Singh and Jinson Johnson claimed the gold and silver medals respectively in the men's 800m. Manjit finished first with a timing of one minute and 46.15 seconds. Jinson was 0.20 seconds behind his compatriot

Johnson clocked 3 minutes and 44.72 seconds to take the yellow medal in the men's 1,500m, while Manjit came fourth with 3:46.57.

In the women's 4X400m event, the Indian quartet of Hima Das, Raju Poovamma, Saritaben Laxmanbhai Gayakwad and Vismaya Koroth registered a time of 3:28.72 to finish at the top of the podium.

In the men's 4X400m relay, the Indian quartet of Muhammed Kunhu, Dharun Ayyasamy, Muhammed Anas and Rajiv Arokia clocked a time of 3:1.85 to finish second.

Experienced sprinter Dutee Chand clinched two silver medals in the 100m and 200m. Dutee clocked 23.20 seconds to finish second in the 200m race, while in the 100m, she timed 11.32 seconds as she became the first Indian woman after P.T. Usha (in 1986) to get two sprint medals in a single edition of the quadrennial continental Games.

The shooters, as usual, won a bagful of medals with a tally of two gold, four silver and three bronze. Teenagers Saurabh Chaudhary and Shardul Vihan showed immense promise for the future with a gold and silver respectively. Rahi Sarnobatgot the other Indian gold in the women's 25 metre pistol event.

This edition of the Asiad has showcased the considerable progress Indian rowers have made at the international level.

the men's quadruple sculls team of Sawarn Singh, Dattu Bhokanal, Om Prakash and Sukhmeet Singh added the golden touch to India's best ever haul of three medals which include two bronze in the men's lightweight single sculls and men's lightweight double sculls categories.

The Indian quadruple sculls team clocked a time of 6 minutes and 17.13 seconds while hosts Indonesia clocked 6:20.58 to take the silver. Thailand had to be content with the bronze at 6:22.41.

This is only the second gold for India since they started participating in the rowing events at the Asiad. The first was won by Bajrang Lal Takhar in men's singles sculls at the 2010 Games.

India's squash contingent returned home with a total of five medals for the first time since the sport became part of the Asian Games programme in 1998. In the previous edition, India's squash team scaled the previous highest tally of four medals.

In Jakarta, Saurav Ghosal, Dipika and Joshana got a bronze medal each in the singles competitions. Then the men's team took a bronze and the women's side bagged a silver. The women's team got a bronze in 2010.

The wushu players also produced their best ever medal haul at the Asian Games with four bronze medals in the wushu sanda competition. Three medals came from the men's competition as Santosh Kumar (56 kiloram), Surya Bhanu Pratap Singh (60kg) and Narender Grewal (65kg). Naorem Roshibina Devi took a bronze in the women's 60kg category.

In kurash, a form of traditional central Asian wrestling, India's Pincky Balhara clinched silver, while Malaprabha Jadav settled for bronze in the women's 52 kilogram category.

India got its first-ever medal in sepaktakraw as it settled for a bronze medal after losing to Thailand in the semi-finals of the men's team regu event.

For the first time, India bagged two silver medals in the equestrian competition.

In the sailing competition, Varsha Gautham and Sweta Shervegar bagged a silver medal in the 49er FX women category, while Harshita Tomar settled for bronze in the Open Laser 4.7 category.

In the 49er FX category, Varsha and Sweta scored a total of 44 points and 40 net points to finish second behind Singapore's Min Kimberly Lim and Rui Qi Cecilia Low, who got 44 total points and 14 net points.

In the Open Laser 4.7 category, Harshita scored a total of 62 points and 50 net points to finish third.

In badminton, star shuttler P.V. Sindhu had to settle for a historic silver after going down in straight games against World No.1 Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan. The defeat meant that Sindhu became the first Indian to win an individual silver medal in badminton at the Asiad. Saina had to settle for bronze after losing in the semi-finals. However, the performances of the male shuttlers was dissapointing.

Along with the success stories, there were several major disappointments as well. Two of the biggest upsets were in kabaddi, with both the men's and women's teams failing to win the gold medals for the first time. Both the Indian teams fell to Iran.

The boxers also turned out to be a major disappointment with only two medals. Upcoming boxer Amit Panghal stunned the reigning Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan to win the men's light flyweight (49 kilogram) category.

Vikas Krishan had to settle for bronze in the men's middleweight (75kg) as he had to pull out of the semi-finals due to an injury.

The men's freestyle wrestlers were another big disappointment with Bajrang Punia's gold in the 65kg category the only saving grace. Vinesh Phogat won gold in the women's 50 kg freestyle section to take India's wrestling tally to two gold medals. Divya Kakran won a bronze in the 68kg.

Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar was at the receiving end of probably the biggest upset in wrestling at this year's Asiad as he was outclassed 3-5 by Adam Batirov of Bahrain in the first round of the men's 74kg division.

The performance by the Indian archers was something of a mixed bag. The Indian men's and women's compound archery teams lost to teams from South Korea in their respective finals. The performance by the compound archers came as a consolation after the complete failure of the recurve team with both the men's and women's teams going down in their quarter-finals.

The men's hockey team also fell far short of expectations despite being strong contenders for the title in a relatively lightweight field. They failed to reach the final, losing to Malaysia in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. The Indians managed to take some consolation by defeating arch-foes Pakistan 2-1 in the bronze medal play-off.

The women's hockey team did better as they got a silver medal, losing 1-2 to lower-ranked Japan in the final. It was India's second silver medal in women's hockey after a gap of 20 years.

(Ajeyo Basu can be contacted at ajeyo.b@ians.in)

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By Tridib Baparnash

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) Star sprinter Hima Das on Tuesday backtracked from her statements against two individuals from Assam whom she had accused of exerting "tremendous pressure" ahead of her flunked 200 metre semi-final at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.

Hima has clarified that the statements came "in the heat of the moment" and she had no personal animosity towards any individual.

"It was a reaction coming out of the heat of the moment. There are no personal grudges against anyone in particular. Let's not blow the controversy out of proportion and mind our own businesses. Let bygones be bygones," Hima told IANS here.

"There are many upcoming events which I want to focus on, and getting involved in such unnecessary controversies won't help anyone. The main target is an Olympic medal and I am working hard to bring more laurels to both my state and the country," she reiterated.

On August 28, around an hour before she claimed the silver in the mixed 4X400 metres relay along with Muhammed Anas, Rajiv Arokia and M.R. Poovamma, the teenaged Assam girl was red-carded following a false start in her women's 200m semi-final.

Dejected at the early eviction, Hima took to social media later in the evening, where she blamed "two persons" from her home state for creating an unnecessary controversy, which she felt was the reason for her flop show.

On Tuesday, probed further on the reason behind her false start in the 200m semi-final, the event where her compatriot Duttee Chand clinched the silver, Hima confessed to being confused, considering the upcoming 4X400 metre mixed relay event in the next hour.

"There was bit of a confusion during the 200m semi-final as there were four gold medals at stake in the 4X400 mixed relay event. I could not afford to lose that. There was no such pressure during the 200m race but the focus was on the next event, i.e the mixed relay," she said.

Asked about the kind of training, the team underwent considering the mixed relay event was introduced for the first time in the Asian Games, the 18-year-old said: "As an athlete, what's important is the mental toughness. After returning from Finland (where she won the IAAF Under-19 gold) I started hard training from the very next day."

"We underwent rigorous training for the mixed relay event in Finland, as the competition was introduced for the first time. It was a great experience for the athletes as well as for the audience."

Hima, who clinched the silver in the 400m sprint event, revealed that her biggest advantage in the competition was being a new-comer to the global athletics scene.

"My biggest advantage was I didn't know any of the athletes competing with me, leave aside their records. So there was no question of any pressure. It was a great learning experience for me, running along side the greats in track and field," she added.

Asked about her primary target in the 400m event, Hima said she wanted to reduce her timing by another micro second.

Hima also decided to dedicate all her three Asian Games medals to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away last month after battling old age ailments.

Hima, who hails from Kandhulimari village in Dhing, in central Assam's Nagaon district, said she missed her family as her parents are yet to meet her in person.

"My mother isn't aware of my sport while my dad being a former footballer knows a bit. They are really happy but they weren't aware of my gold medal feat in Finland," she said.

"I plainly told them it was another one-off event but the next morning when congratulatory messages poured in, they came to know that it was a global tournament. I am yet to meet them personally, let's see," she summed up.

(Tridib Baparnash can be contacted at tridib.b@ians.in)

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Kolkata, Sep 3 (IANS) Pranab Bardhan and Shibhnath De Sarkar, who bagged gold in the men's pair bridge competition at the 18th Asian Games, are among the squad members who have not been provided Team India blazers by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for attending Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reception for medallists in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The team's non-playing captain and coach Debasish Ray, who has not been invited to the gala function, told reporters that they received step-motherly treatment from the IOA, who at first were reluctant to send a team to the Games.

"We have not been provided blazers with India's logo for the Prime Minister's reception ceremony. I am not even invited," Ray said on the sidelines of the Calcutta Sports Journalists' Club felicitation ceremony here.

Ray said the medal-winning members are planning to stitch IOA logos in their old blazers so that they are "eligible" for the official photo-op.

"We plan to stitch the IOA logo on our own blazers and attend the function. We are left with no other option," Ray added.

The IOA had initially refused to clear the Indian contingent for the Games. It was after HCL chief Shiv Nadar had intervened that they got the green signal, Ray added.

The HCL International Bridge Championship is the largest competition of the little known sport in the world.

The IOA had at first refused to provide clothes including ceremonial wear - Team India blazers during the Opening and Closing Ceremonies - and training and in-competition kits for the eight federations not affiliated to the governing body.

Later, the Sports Ministry had to intervene and entail the cost of kits and uniforms of the Asian Games-bound athletes.

Besides Bardhan and Sarkar, Bengal's Sumit Mukherjee and Debabrata Majumder, who were part of the six-member men's team which bagged bronze, were also present.

The mixed team also clinched bronze to cap a brilliant debut for the sport at the Games.

Ray, a former India international, who was also entrusted with the job of selecting the national team by the Bridge Federation of India (BFI), lamented the lack of infrastructure for the sport in West Bengal and urged the state government to provide places where they can practice together ahead of selection trials for tournaments.

"We have no big demands. We just want a common place to practice the game as all of us don't stay nearby and it gets difficult at times."

The Bengal Bridge Association, in April, struggled to find a venue for a national tournament after the state government cancelled permission for Khudiram Anushilan Kendra for panchayat elections, Ray recalled.

"We were allotted Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in New Town for which we had to play a hefty Rs 7-8 lakh," Ray said, underlining their plea for a permanent venue.

Bardhan, 60, who is a builder by profession, and his 56-year old partner Dey Sarkar, who teaches at Jadavpur University, garnered 384 points to see off China's Lixin Yang and Gang Chen (378 points) in the five-round competition to finish on top.

Bardhan also became the oldest Indian to win an Asian Games gold medal.

"I urge schools to include bridge in their curriculum. People have a conception that this is gambling. It's absolutely false. While going to Indonesia, I was asked by the immigration officer why I am going to play cards? He doubted me. Only after I explained did he understand," Bardhan said.

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New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) Ace boxer Vijender Singh on Monday urged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to increase the cash award of Rs 10 lakh which her government has promised India's first-ever Asian Games gold medal winner in heptathlon.

"Dear @MamataOfficial didi plz increase #SwapnaBarman state price money Y?Y #10lakhvs3crore #HumbleRequest #IndiaatAsiangames2018," Vijender said in a tweet.

Besides the cash award, the West Bengal government has also promised a government job to Swapna, who scripted history in Jakarta last week.

The Jalpaiguri girl achieved her personal best score of 6026 points in the seven-event competition to earn India a first heptathlon gold in the Asian Games.

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Incheon, Sep 3 (IANS) South Korea's under-23 national football team players returned to a heroes' welcome on Monday after winning the gold medal at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia.

The 20-player team, led by head coach Kim Hak-bum, received a warm welcome from hundreds of fans at Incheon International Airport. The players and coaching staff took a group photo with their gold medals before they disbanded, reports Yonhap news agency.

South Korea defeated Japan 2-1 in extra time to claim their Asiad men's football title. Lee Seung-woo and Hwang Hee-chan scored a goal apiece at Pakansari Stadium in Cibinong, south of Jakarta.

"We earned a good result because of our players' hard-working effort," Kim said. "We want to thank our football fans for supporting us."

Three wild-card members -- Son Heung-min, Hwang Ui-jo and Jo Hyeon-woo -- were pivotal for South Korea's gold medal run. Son was the captain of the team, while Hwang finished the Asian Games as the top scorer with nine goals. Jo conceded only two goals in the five matches he played.

"The three players did more than what they were supposed to do," Kim said. "They really lead their young teammates well."

With the gold medal, the 20 players are now exempt from their compulsory military service that is about two years long. They can now take a basic four-week training program for the service.

Among the Asian Games members, eight players will have to continue their international duty as they also received a call-up from the senior national team.

Son Heung-min, Hwang Ui-jo, Jo Hyeon-woo, Hwang Hee-chan, Lee Seung-woo, Kim Min-jae Hwang In-beom and Kim Moon-hwan will now work with Paulo Bento's squad for upcoming friendly matches.

South Korea are scheduled to take on Costa Rica on Friday and Chile four days later.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said the eight players who competed at the Asian Games will join the senior national team at the National Football Center (NFC) in Paju, north of Seoul, on Tuesday. The other 16 players will begin training at the NFC later Monday.

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Bhubaneswar, Sep 3 (IANS) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday announced a cash award of Rs 50 lakh each for the two Odia players Birendra Lakra and Amit Rohidas for winning bronze medal at 18th Asian Games in Indonesia.

Both were part of the Indian men's hockey team that won bronze medal by thrashing Pakistan.

The Chief Minister also congratulated the Indian men's hockey team for winning the bronze medal.

Earlier, the Chief Minister had announced a cash reward of Rs 1 crore each for four women hockey players from the state for winning silver medal at Asian Games.

The cash award was announced for Sunita Lakra, Namita Toppo, Nilima Minz and Deep Grace Ekka, who were part of Indian Women's Hockey team.

The state government had also announced Rs 3 crore for sprinter Dutee Chand, who won double silver medals in 100m and 200m events.

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Jakarta, Sep 2 (IANS) The 18th Asian Games came to a close at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium here on Sunday, but the Games will be long remembered for showcasing the energy of Asia, the drive for world peace and host Indonesia's passion.

The two-week, 40-sport Asian Games has been a great athletic success, witnessing six world records highlighted by Chinese swimmer Liu Xiang's stunning performance in the women's 50m backstroke, reports Xinhua news agency.

A total of 18 Asian records have also been set up at the Games. China once again called the shots at the Games, leading with 132 gold, 92 silver and 65 bronze medals, although the Asian giant sent a relatively young delegation, with 631 out of their 845-athlete squad having participated in neither the Olympics nor the Asian Games.

Japan achieved better-than-expected results at the Asiad as they wrapped up the campaign with a total of 205 medals, including 75 golds, 56 silvers, and 74 bronzes, overtaking South Korea to finish second in the tally for the first time in a decade.

China, Japan and South Korea (49 golds) dominated, as always. But several other teams closed ground on the Big Three. The Big Three were followed in the gold-medal ranking order by: Indonesia (31), Uzbekistan (21), Iran (20) and Chinese Taipei (17). India and Kazakhstan each had 15 followed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPR Korea) and Bahrain with 12.

In a latest move to thaw the relations on the troubled Korean peninsula, North Korea and South Korea formed a unified team to participate in three sports of the Games, a feat which Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah cited as an example as the strong role of sports in promoting world peace and global unity.

The unified team won four medals overall, including a historic gold in dragon boat racing, which was the first gold medal by a unified Korean team at a major multi-sport event.

Six months ago, a unified women's hockey Korean team played at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, but they failed to earn a medal.

In Jakarta, the two countries formed united teams in women's basketball, canoeing and rowing sports. The unified women's basketball team won a silver after losing to China.

The host Indonesia also made headlines this time. Fifty-six years after hosting the Asian Games for the first time, Indonesia welcomed guests from across Asia again.

In 1962, 1,545 athletes from 16 delegations competed in 88 events from 13 sports while this year the Asian Games have attracted more than 10,000 athletes from 45 delegations.

It's a huge undertaking by Indonesia, especially when Jakarta and co-host city Palembang were awarded the Games only four years ago after Vietnam withdrew in 2014 due to financial constraints. This allowed for only four years of preparation, instead of the usual six to seven years.

Although Jakarta had to organise the event in a short time, on a tight budget, the capital city has proved that it can host a multi-sports international event involving 45 teams that represent more than 4 billion people in a record time of just four years.

The organisers addressed a number of key concerns, including security issues, haze resulting from forest fires around Sumatra as well as motor vehicle and industrial emissions in Jakarta.

Jakarta used to be a notorious city of traffic congestion. To ease the problem, the government introduced an odd and even policy for vehicles in Jakarta.

In terms of athletic achievements, Indonesia also entertained the home fans by winning 31 gold, 24 silver and 43 bronze medals to sit fourth on the medal table, only after the Big Three.

Also in a surprise announcement on Saturday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Indonesia will bid to host the 2032 Olympics following the success of the Asian Games, highlighting the rising ambition of the giant but long underperforming Southeast Asian nation.

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Apart from surfing which is also included in 2020, the four new Olympic sports of baseball and softball, karate, sport climbing and skateboarding have been fanfaring well in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta and Palembang, the capital city of south Sumatra Province, as more and more young audience are embracing them in the sports world, reports Xinhua news agency.

Besides, three-on-three basketball, to be a new event in Tokyo, just made its debut in the Asiad, attracting the hearts of the young people into the showcase stage of the biggest Asian continental sports gala.

And the Jakarta Asiad has testified to the fact that the host countries of either Asiad or Olympics can surely boost their ratings, attract more sponsors, and enrich the lives of the young generation by introducing these sports into the world sports arena.

"3X3 is now quite popular in China. I believe that our victory here will attract more and more people into the new Olympic event," said Huang Wenwei, the winning member of the Chinese men's 3x3 basketball team.

The 3x3 basketball has been generating fresh vitality into the ancient Olympic sport as it runs faster with much more bursts of blitz attacks, allowing only 12 seconds to complete each attack instead of the traditional 24-second rule, changing smoothly from defense to offense during the whole 10-minute competition with only one 30-second timeout for each side.

Many players even put it as nothing short of a 10-minute anaerobic devil confrontation.

Furthermore, the lighting settings at the venue are even more fascinating with pop music being played, and the DJ interacting with audiences all the time, making it a vogue for the young people.

The Jakarta Asiad also witnessed another debutant of sport climbing, a combination of strength, endurance and flexibility. It requires accurate calculation to decide every movement in the wall climbing as a simple error could evolve into a fall.

"Climbing represents the only basic human movement not yet included in the Olympic Games, it brings the missing vertical dimension to the world's most prestigious sporting event," said Nick Colton, deputy chief officer at the British Mountaineering Council.

For baseball and softball, Asiad has become the springboard to jump into the Olympic arena as baseball was included in the Hiroshima Asian Games 1994, and softball made it into the Beijing Asian Games 1990.

Softball is a modified form of baseball with seven innings instead of nine, as well as underarm bowling. And both sports are very popular in Japan, which will host the 2020 Olympic Games.

"Olympic baseball and softball in Japan would be the biggest and most exciting international competition in the history of our sport, and would help the Olympic Games touch the entire host nation and worldwide community," said World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) president Riccardo Fraccari.

As the sport returns to the Olympic program in 2020 Tokyo, ace Yukiko Ueno and Japan asserted their authority by winning their fifth straight Asiad title with a 7-0 win over Chinese Taipei.

"The Asian Games has increasingly become a place to show the strength of Japanese softball," said Ueno, a four-time Asiad athlete, "we have had easier games this time by being able to score lots of runs."

And karate will also become the sport from which Japan hopes to reap more during the 2020 Tokyo Games, after it had its Asiad debut in Hiroshima 1994. In Jakarta, Japan took four golds in the men's and women's kata and kumite events.

Introduction of new sports into the Olympic Games is a trend to meet the needs of the young generation, and the Asiad has become the whetstone for Asian athletes to better their skills.

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Jakarta, Sep 2 (IANS) Following is the top-10 positions of the medal table at the 18th Asian Games after the conclusion of competitions on Sunday, (tabulated under delegations, gold, silver, bronze and total).

China 132 92 65 289
Japan 75 56 74 205
South Korea 49 58 70 177
Indonesia 31 24 43 98
Uzbekistan 21 24 25 70
Iran 20 20 22 62
Taiwan 17 19 31 67
India 15 24 30 69
Kazakhstan 15 17 44 76
North Korea 12 12 13 37

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The 18-year-old Japanese won the 50m and 100m freestyle, 50m and 100m butterfly as well as the 4x100m freestyle and medley relays, reports Xinhua news agency.

The teenager is the first female winner of the award, which has been presented at every Games since the 1998 edition in Bangkok.

Back in Japan after the competition, Ikee told the media that she was surprised and happy to know that she has been chosen for the honour. "Thanks to the OCA for considering me as the candidate," she said.

For the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, she said she will prepare more. "Two years is neither long, nor short, I know what I should do, I will try to achieve more in my own country," she said.

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Kolkata, Sep 1 (IANS) Bridge as a game will gain popularity among the youth of the country after the Bengal duo of Pranab Bardhan and Shibnath De Sarkar bagged gold in the men's bridge pair competition at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, the teams non-playing captain and coach Debasish Ray said on Saturday.

"Dreams come true. I just cannot express the joy in words. We were waiting for the moment for many years. Their performance will motivate youngsters to involve with the game which is probably the most scientific mind game," Ray told IANS over phone.

According to him, bridge is a "mind game" with a higher number of permutation and combinations compared to chess.

He, however, lamented that the game was never in the limelight as compared to cricket or chess as card games have a stigma of gambling.

"Asian Games success has attracted media attention which I have never noticed earlier. I keep on getting phone calls from your fraternity after the news surfaced and it will bring awareness among youngsters. This success will change the mindset of the people," said Ray, one of the selectors of the national team.

Bardhan's daughter Pratirupa Bardhan was excited. "We knew that my father is one of the leading players as he had won various competitions earlier but this victory at such a big platform is very special," she said.

She further said that the support and encouragement Bardhan received from his wife was immense as her mother had never complained about his events for which he travels a lot.

"This is a huge gift for me. I have been facing a lot of questions for supporting my husband. I didn't allow him to miss any of his tournaments as I knew that such a golden day was in store for him," said Bardhan's wife.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee too congratulated the team.

"Spectacular performance by the Indian Contingent on the last day of #AsianGames2018. A big congratulations to Amit Panghal for bringing home Gold in 49kg boxing as well as Pranab Bardhan and Shibhnath Sarkar for their Gold in Bridge Men's Pair Event. Well Done," the former President Pranab Mukherjee tweeted.

Speaking on their preparation running up to the Games, Ray said Bardhan (60) and De Sarkar (56) had spent over 10-12 hours a day on the online site and their combination was "excellent" as they know each other for about 20 years.

In fact, they won a tournament recently in Incheon, South Korea where countries from the Asia Pacific region competed.

India secured one gold and two bronze medals-- men's team and mixed team -- in bridge from the 18th Asian Games where the game made its debut.

Ray said the game with the average age of players at 52-53 years in India would provide job security to youth as the Railways, Income tax and Central Excise have been offering jobs to performers.

He is also of hopeful of getting attraction of Indian corporates for setting up incubation centres and requisite infrastructure to groom budding talents in the game.

"Some funds from the Indian corporate sector are being offered. There is a Corporate Bridge Association of India organising the game. I believe the Asian Games Success will help securing more corporate funds towards development of the game," Ray said.

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Jakarta, Sep 1 (IANS) Upcoming boxer Amit Panghal stunned the reigning Olympic champion to add the extra glitz to a day on which the Indian contingent recorded their best ever tally even as the bridge team won gold while the women's squash and men's hockey teams added silver and bronze respectively at the 18th Asian Games here on Saturday.

On the penultimate day of the Games, India are sitting at the eighth spot with 15 gold, 24 silver 30 bronze for a total of 69 medals.

India have thus surpassed their previous highest tally of 65 medals which they registered at the 2010 edition in Guangzhou. Amit's title winning effort also enabled the Indian contingent to equal the best ever gold medal count which came at the inaugural edition way back in 1951.

It all started with boxing when Amit edged out reigning Olympic and continental champion Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan to win gold in the men's light flyweight (49 kilogram) category.

The 22-year-old earned a split decision to earn India's only boxing gold from this year's Games.

With Vikas Krishan settling for the silver medal in the men's middleweight (75kg) division, the Indian boxing contingent will return with two medals from this edition of the Asian Games.

There was very little to choose between the two boxers with the judges ruling 3-2 in Amit's favour.

Despite facing one of the best boxers in the world in his weight category, Amit matched his opponent blow for blow throughout the bout.

The second gold of the day came in bridge, which has been introduced for the first time at the Games. The men's bridge pair comprising Pranab Bardhan and Shibhnath Sarkar scored 384.00 points to finish in the first place.

China's Gang Chen and Lixin Yang bagged silver, while Henky Lasut and Freddy Eddy Manoppo of Indonesia settled for the bronze medal.

In hockey, the men's team defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 2-1 in the bronze medal play-off. Akashdeep Singh (third minute) and Harmanpreet Singh (50th) scored for defending champions India, while Muhammad Atiq (52nd minute) scored for Pakistan.

Squash also swelled India's medals tally, adding a silver medal. Women's squash team lost to Hong Kong 0-2 in the final to finish at the third place.

The Indian women's team of Joshana Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal, Sunayna Kuruvilla and Tanvi Khanna, lost its first two singles matches.

Sunayna lost 1-3 (8-11, 6-11, 12-10, 3-11) to Ho Tze-Lok as Hong Kong led 1-0 in the final and then veteran Joshana lost 0-3 (3-11, 9-11, 5-11) to Annie Au Wing Ch.

India's squash contingent will return home with a total of five medals for the first time since the sport became part of the Asian Games programme in 1998. In the previous edition, India's squash team scaled the previous highest tally of four medals.

In Jakarta, Saurav Ghosal, Dipika and Joshana got a bronze medal each in the singles competitions. Then the men's team took a bronze and the women's side bagged a silver. The women's team got a bronze in 2010.

The biggest disappointment of the day was in the canoeing competition as India finished at the ninth spot in the men's canoe double (C2) 200 metre event.

The Indian pair of Prakant Sharma and Jamesboy Singh clocked 41.152 seconds to finish last in the final.

The Chinese pair of Xing Song and Li Qiang clinched the gold medal after finishing the event with a time of 36.94 seconds.

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Jakarta, Sep 1 (IANS) China beat Iran 84-72 on Saturday for its eighth men's basketball title of the Asian Games.

With the win, the Chinese basketball teams have swept all four gold medals from both men's and women's 3x3 and 5x5 competitions, reports Xinhua news agency.

After powerhouse Iran took an 18-10 lead from the first two minutes, China managed to narrow the gap and even closed to one point through the efforts of Fang Shuo and Abudurexiti, although Iran still led by 45-41 into the second half.

Wang Zhelin started the third quarter with his shot, helping China to turn the tide 50-45 together with a pair of 3-pointers from Zhao Rui, and to lead 59-56 into the last quarter.

Both Zhou Qi and Ding Yanyuhang combined for a string of 3-pointers to guide China for a 71-61 lead, a double-digit advantage kept till the end of the match.

The 22-year-old Abudurexiti scored a team-high 20 points, Fang Shuo and Zhao Rui collected 16 points each, and Zhou Qi contributed 15 points and 11 rebounds.

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Jakarta, Sep 1 (IANS) India's men's hockey team defeated arch-foes Pakistan 2-1 in the bronze medal playoff at the 18th Asian Games here on Saturday.

Akashdeep Singh (third minute) and Harmnanpreet Singh (50th) scored for 2014 edition champions India, while Muhammad Atiq (52nd minute) scored for Pakistan, who had finished runners-up in the previous edition.

India shook off the disappointment of losing to Malaysia in the semi-finals as they got off to a flying start, with Akashdeep giving them an early lead. Lalit Upadhyay ran to the left byline before cutting it back to an unmarked Akashdeep, who put the ball in the net with a quick slap.

India built on the momentum as they made two more field goals attempts through Chinglensana Singh in the sixth minute and Mandeep Singh in the 14th minute but the Pakistan defence was alert to avoid a further lead.

The second quarter though saw Pakistan up their game and came up with strong attacking display as forwards Ajaz Ahmad, Muhammad Dilber and Abu Mahmood tested the Indian defence as they took powerful shots on goal.

They made plenty of chances in the circle and also earned the first penalty corner in the 21st minute but was well saved by India. Pakistan earned two more penalty corners in the same minute but were unsuccessful.

In the 27th minute, India strikers S.V. Sunil and Akashdeep took turns in attempting shots on goal with good stick work inside the circle but unfortunately could not convert. Akashdeep and Sardar Singh combined well for the former to cross at the right post but a diving Sunil cound't control the ball.

The third quarter too saw Pakistan make two strong attempts on goal. First it was Ajaz Ahmad in the 34th minute but he missed the post by a small margin while in the 38th minute an Indian infringement saw Pakistan earn another penalty corner. The drag-flick, though, by the experienced Muhammad Irfan was very well-saved by runner Manpreet Singh.

Ahead only by a goal, it was a tense final quarter for India and they needed to up their attack to ensure they finished well.

Good stick work by Mandeep Singh in the circle saw him win India's first penalty corner in the 50th minute. And young Harmanpreet made no mistake in putting the ball past Pakistani goalkeeper at the right post to give India a 2-0 lead.

Pakistan pulled one back within a minute as a counter-attack saw an unmarked Atiq receiving a fine cross from the right before sweeping it past a diving goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh.

India quickly earned a penalty corner, thanks to Mandeep Singh but Rupinder Pal Singh's drag-flick was off target.

Though in the dying minutes of the match Pakistan kept the ball possession for longer spell, India did everything they could to defend the lead and win.

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Jakarta, Sep 1 (IANS) India's women's squash team got a second successive silver medal in the Asian Games as it lost to Hong Kong 0-2 in the final here on Saturday.

The Indian women's team of Joshana Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal, Sunayna Kuruvilla and Tanvi Khanna, lost its first two singles matches.

Sunayna lost 1-3 (8-11, 6-11, 12-10, 3-11) to Ho Tze-Lok as Hong Kong led 1-0 in the final. Sunayna had defeated Tze-Lok during a Pool B clash but in the final, the 19-year-old was unable to deliver under pressure. Sunayna was fielded ahead of experienced Dipika due to the latter's physical toll during Friday's win over Malaysia in the semi-finals.

Young Sunayna delivered her best in the third game, winning it 12-10 to take the game to the fourth set as Tze-Lok had gone 2-0 up thanks to 11-8, 11-6 wins.

Then veteran Joshana lost 0-3 (3-11, 9-11, 5-11) to Annie Au Wing Chi, who had won by a similar margin during the Pool B clash against the Indian. In the first set, Annie quickly ran to an 11-3 lead, giving no chance to Joshana.

Joshana, 31, improved her game in the second set and both fought hard until the Hong Kong player came out strong at the end for the 11-9 triumph.

In the third set, Annie was at the top of her game, dominating Joshana. She got off to a good start before Joshana tried to stage a comeback but it was not enough. Annie went on to win 11-5 to win the tie 3-0 to give Hong Kong a 2-0 unassailable lead.

Joshana said: "She (Annie) put pressure on me right from the start. I played well in patches but it was not enough)."

The gold in the women's squash team event was first for Hong Kong after a silver and bronze in 2010 and 2014 respectively.

India's squash contingent will return home with a total of five medals for the first time since the sport became part of Asian Games programme in 1998. In the previous edition, India's squash team scaled the highest ever tally of four medals.

In Jakarta, Saurav Ghosal, Dipika and Joshana got a bronze medal each in the singles competitions. Then the men's team took a bronze and the women's side bagged a silver. The women's team got a bronze in 2010.

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Jakarta, Sep 1 (IANS) India's men's hockey team defeated Pakistan 2-1 in the bronze medal playoff at the 18th Asian Games here on Saturday.

Akashdeep Singh (third minute) and Harmnanpreet Singh (50th) scored for 2014 edition champions India, while Muhammad Atiq (52nd minute) scored for Pakistan.

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Jakarta, Sep 1 (IANS) India's women's squash team lost to Hong Kong 0-2 in the final of the 18th Asian Games here on Saturday.

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Jakarta, Sep 1 (IANS) Indian boxer Amit Panghal edged out reigning Olympic and continental champion Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan in a bitterly fought final to win gold in the men's light flyweight (49 kilogram) category at the 2018 Asian Games here on Saturday.

The 22-year-old earned a split decision to earn India's only boxing gold from this year's Games.

With Vikas Krishan settling for the silver medal in the men's middleweight (75kg) division, the Indian boxing contingent will return with two medals from this edition of the Asian Games.

There was very little to choose between the two boxers with the judges ruling 3-2 in Amit's favour.

Despite facing one of the best boxers in the world in his weight category, Amit matched his opponent blow for blow throughout the bout.

The opening bout got off to a slow start with both boxers trying to assess each other. Amit was the more aggressive boxer and tried to push the Uzbek on to the back foot with his attacking style.

The Indian's superior height and reach also allowed him to throw punches from a distance and keep out of his opponent's reach.

Although Dusmatov did use his excellent counter punching skills to land scoring punches, for most of the bout he struggled to get in range which would have allowed him to launch a proper assault.

The 2016 Rio Olympics champion used his excellent defence to keep the Indian's blows at bay while his footwork forced Amit to do most of the hard work.

Dusmatov tried to force the initiative mid way through the second round but Amit did well to hold his own. The Haryana boxer almost managed to knock his rival down but Dusmatov managed to stay on his feet.

With very little separating the two opponents after the first two rounds, both Amit and Dusmatov tried to up the ante in the third and final period. Amit maintained his attacking tempo and employed a lower guard in the third round as the Uzbek star struggled to match his pace.

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Jakarta, Sep 1 (IANS) India bagged gold in the men's bridge pair competition at the 2018 Asian Games here on Saturday.

The Indian pair comprising Pranab Bardhan and Shibhnath Sarkar scored 384.00 points to finish in the first place.

China's Gang Chen and Lixin Yang bagged silver, while Henky Lasut and Freddy Eddy Manoppo of Indonesia settled for the bronze medal.

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Palembang, Sep 1 (IANS) The Indian team finished at the ninth spot in the men's canoe double (C2) 200 metre competition at the 2018 Asian Games here on Saturday.

The Indian pair of Prakant Sharma and Jamesboy Singh clocked 41.152 seconds to finish last in the final.

The Chinese pair of Xing Song and Li Qiang clinched the gold medal after finishing the event with a time of 36.94 seconds.

Uzbekistan's Elyorjon Mamadaliev and Artur Guliev registered a time of 37.08 seconds to clinch the silver medal.

Kazakhstan's Merey Medetov and Timur Khaidarov settled for bronze after finishing the competition in 37.371 seconds.

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Jakarta, Aug 31 (IANS) India continued to swell its overall medal tally, with the women's hockey team taking a silver, while sailors gave a silver and bronze, even as the squash teams had opposite results in the semi-finals and boxer Amit Panghal entered the finals on 13th day of the 18th Asian Games here on Friday.

Among others, middle-weight (75kg) boxer Vikas Krishan settled for a bronze medal after conceding a walkout in the semi-finals against Abilkhan Amankul of Kazakhstan due to an injury.

The disappointments of the day were Indian singles paddlers Achanta Sharath Kamal and Manika, who lost their respective singles matches.

On 13th day, India is sitting at the eighth spot with a total of 65 medals (13 gold, 23 silver 29 bronze), equalling the highest tally of 2010 Guangzhou edition.

The hopes of a gold medal were pinned on India's last event of the day but a 2-1 win by Japan's women's hockey team condemned them to take silver.

Japan took the lead through Minami Shimizu in the 11th minute but India pulled the level through Neha Goyal in the 25th minute. Motomi Kawamura regained Japan's lead in the 44th minute. India couldn't find their equaliser and had to settle for the silver medal.

It was India's second silver medal in women's hockey in Asiad history. The last time they had finished second was in the 1998 edition in which they lost to South Korea with the same scoreline.

In the sailing competition, Varsha Gautham and Sweta Shervegar bagged a silver medal in the 49er FX women category, while Harshita Tomar settled for bronze in the Open Laser 4.7 category.

In the 49er FX category, Varsha and Sweta scored a total of 44 points and 40 net points to finish second behind Singapore's Min Kimberly Lim and Rui Qi Cecilia Low, who got 44 total points and 14 net points.

In the Open Laser 4.7 category, Harshita scored a total of 62 points and 50 net points to finish third.

In squash, India's women's team of Joshana Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal, Sunayna Kuruvilla and Tanvi Khanna entered the finals with a 2-0 victory over Malaysia. In the finals, India will take on Hong Kong, who defeated Japan 2-0.

Joshna Chinappa registered a 3-2 (10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 9-11) victory over legendary Nicol David, while Dipika crushed Low Wee Wern 3-0 (2-11, 9-11, 7-11) to give India an unassailable 2-0 lead.

In the men's category, the Indian team, comprising Saurav Ghoshal, Harinder Sandhu, Ramit Tondon and Mahesh Mangaonkar, lost 0-2 to Hong Kong and settled for bronze medal.

While Sourav lost 0-3 (6-11, 9-11, 11-13) to Max Lee, Harinder fell 1-3 (9-11, 11-9, 9-11, 3-11) to Leo Au as Hong Kong won 2-0 to set up a title clash against Malaysia.

In table tennis, it was the end of road for singles shuttlers as Manika Batra and Achanta Sharath Kamal lost their respective singles matches while men's and women's team shined.

Sharath lost 7-11, 11-9, 10-12, 16-14, 9-11 to Chuang Chihyuan of Taiwan in the men's singles pre-quarterfinals.

Manika lost 2-11, 8-11, 8-11, 11-6, 4-11 in a pre-quarterfinal contest against Wang Manyu of China.

In boxing, Amit advanced to the finals as he registered a 3-2 split decision victory over Carlo Paalam of the Philippines to enter the finals of the men's light flyweight (49 kg) category.

Amit was off to a slow start against Carlo as both boxers were a bit cautious during the opening round. Both boxers employed a lower guard and were equally matched.

The second round picked up a bit of tempo as the two boxers tried to up the ante. Amit managed to land a few scoring punches as the second round drew to a close.

That prompted Carlo to employ a higher guard in the third and final round. As a result, although the Indian dominated the round, he was unable to land too many scoring punches.

However, Amit's performance was enough to give him a victory by a split decision.

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Jakarta, Aug 31 (IANS) India's women's hockey team got a silver medal at the Asian Games for the second time as it lost 1-2 to lower-ranked Japan in the final at the Gelora Bung Karno Hockey Field here on Friday.

World No.14 Japan took the lead through Minami Shimizu in the 11th minute but world No.9 India pulled level through Neha Goyal in the 25th minute. Motomi Kawamura regained Japan's lead in the 44th minute. India couldn't find their equaliser and had to settle for the silver medal.

It was India's second silver medal in women's hockey in Asiad history. The last time they had finished second was in the 1998 edition. The only time they have won the title was in 1982 Games in New Delhi.

Coming into the final, India were the favourites having scored 38 goals during the group stage before securing a 1-0 win over China in the semi-finals. Also. going by recent results, India have had uccessful outings against the Japanese.

India started the first quarter well as they created a few opportunities which saw forwards Lalremsiami, Navneet Kaur and skipper Rani Rampal come close to scoring, but were denied by a rigid Japanese defence.

The Japanese got into the game and had their first real chance in the 8th minute as they forced Indian goalkeeper Savita to make a save off Aki Yamada's shot.

The 10th minute saw India win their first penalty corner. Japanese goalkeeper Megumi Kageyama kept away Gurjit Kaur's drag-flick on the left post.

After the turnover, Japan came hard at the Indians, earning a penalty corner. Shimizu deflected a penalty corner near the left post to give Japan a crucial 1-0 lead.

Japan looked comfortable on the ball towards the start of the second quarter and made several interceptions to deny India the opportunity to stitch passes together.

However, the Indian team was finally successful in finding an equaliser in the 25th minute as Navneet Kaur and Neha combined in a brilliant counter-attacking move to score India's equaliser. Navneet struck a reverse shot across goal from inside the striking circle to find an unmarked Neha, who deflected the ball into the back of the net.

In the third quarter, India minimised unforced errors, building pressure on their opponents by keeping the ball better.

India had the first chance of the period in the 36th minute as Vandana Katariya and Navjot Kaur combined to attack on the counter, but the Japanese defence held firm to clear the ball away.

Vandana Katariya took another shot in the next minute but her strike was saved by Kageyama.

Japan, too, got their game going. With just over a minute remaining in the third quarter, Japan were awarded their second penalty corner which was well converted by Kawamura through a variation as they led 2-1.

It was desperate times for the Indian team as they tried to find a way past the Japanese defense. Whereas, Japan, on the other hand, tried to stay in front and manage the match well as they kept possession inside India's half to utilise vital seconds.

The Indian team created an opportunity in the last minute when Rani and Vandana found themselves in possession inside Japan's striking circle. But the latter's shot went just wide of the goalpost as Indian hopes fizzled.

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Jakarta, Aug 31 (IANS) Indian boxer Amit Panghal registered a split decision victory to enter the final of the men's light flyweight (49 kilogram) category at the 18th Asian Games here on Friday.

Amit saw off a tough challenge from Carlo Paalam of the Philippines to clinch a 3-2 victory in the semi-finals.

The Haryana pugilist is expected to face an extremely difficult task in the final as he will be up against reigning Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan.

In the other semi-final, Dusmatov thrashed Wu Zhonglin of China 5-0 in a unanimous verdict.

Vikas Krishan, the only other Indian boxer who managed to reach the semi-finals, settled for bronze after conceeding a walkout.

Vikas, who competes in the middleweight (75kg) category, was scheduled to take on Abilkhan Amankul of Kazakhstan for a place in the final.

Amit was off to a slow start against Carlo as both boxers were a bit cautious during the opening round. Both boxers employed a lower guard and were equally matched.

The second round picked up a bit of tempo as the two boxers tried to up the ante. Amit managed to land a few scoring punches as the second round drew to a close.

That prompted Carlo to employ a higher guard in the third and final round. As a result, although the Indian dominated the round, he was unable to land too many scoring punches.

However, Amit's performance was enough to give him a victory by a split decision.

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Jakarta, Aug 31 (IANS) Indian men's squash team lost their semi-final match to Hong Kong and settled for bronze medal at the 18th Asian Games here on Friday.

India comprising Saurav Ghoshal, Harinder Sandhu, Ramit Tondon and Mahesh Mangaonkar lost 0-2 to Hong Kong.

Sourav lost the first match 7-11, 9-11, 11-13 to Lee Ho Yin and then Harinder lost to give Hong Kong an easy victory.

Earlier, India entered the women's team final, defeating Malaysia 2-0 in the semi-finals.

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By Gaurav Sharma

New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS) Experienced shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa said in order to improve the standards of Indian doubles teams, academy coaches should pay attention to every format rather than focussing solely on singles.

Ashwini, who lost in the women's doubles quarter-finals at the Asian Games, where she had paired up with N. Sikki Reddy, said the country still needs specialised doubles coaches at the grassroots levels.

"I think there is a need for doubles coaches at the grassroots level. Most coaches at academies focus on singles training. Having a mix of both singles training and doubles training at a young age will definitely help," Ashwini told IANS.

Ashwini, who won women's doubles gold with Jwala Gutta at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, also asserted that Indian players are smarter on court as compared to their counterparts from top nations in Asia and Europe.

"I would say our mind. We are smart on court. Having said that strength and speed is an important factor, which is something a lot of players lack which makes it difficult to match players from Asia. The Europeans are very good strategically. They play smart and to their advantage," Ashwini, a Red Bull athlete, said.

Ashwini also said that the Asian Games are more competitive than the Commonwealth Games because top teams like China, Japan, South Korea and others participate in the continental event.

"At the international level there are no easy games as every team has players of international quality. But yes, the Asian Games are more competitive than the Commonwealth Games as top badminton nations like China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and Thailand are a part of it," she added.

(Gaurav Sharma can be contacted at gaurav.sharma@ians.in)

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