UAE reach football semis at Asian Games
Athletes play their part on the mat to help the UAE reach record haul of 12 medals
Reigning Asian champion Neeraj Chopra lived up to his billing with the men’s javelin gold at the 18th Asian Games as ace shuttler P.V. Sindhu created history by becoming the first Indian to book a place in the finals of the women’s singles yesterday.
Neeraj threw 88.06 metres in his third attempt to clinch gold with a national record, India’s second medal in the event in the history of the Games. Gurtej Singh had taken a bronze at the 1982 edition in New Delhi.
Liu Qizhen took silver for China with a personal best of 82.22m. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem was a surprise finisher at the bronze medal position.
Languishing at the fifth position till late in the competition, the Pakistani was initially struggling to get past the 75 metre mark. But he hit 80.75m with his fourth attempt which put him on the podium.
“I could have crossed 90m today but I was repeatedly getting too much height in my throws. But I am happy with my performance,” Neeraj said later.
“My next target is wining gold at the Diamond League Final which starts on September 13,” he added.
Sindhu defeated her Japanese opponent Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 1521, 21-10 in the semi-final in a contest that lasted for one hour six minutes.
Sindhu’s senior compatriot Saina Nehwal’s hopes of making it to the finals was dashed as she lost out in the semis in straight games 17-21, 14-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying.
Nehwal, however, became the first became the first Indian to win a medal with the bronze at the Games in women’s singles. The loss, however, would have been a bit of hard bill to swallow for Nehwal as it was her 10th successive loss against Tzu Ying. Nehwal’s last win against Tzu Ying had come way back in 2013 in the Swiss Open. “I need to be quicker and have smooth movements, lot more shots as well, to finish the rallies. Somewhere she will catch you. Every rally is a different rally with her. Most players have set pattern but she has got a variety of shots,” said Nehwal.
Difficult match
“She is someone who is not easy to read. Not all the coaches can read her. As a player I have tried to read but she always comes up with a new shot,” said the 28-year-old.
Sindhu also will have lots to ponder on ways to beat Tzu Ying in the final on Tuesday. Her record against her hasn’t been that great for a while now.
Tzu Ying has a 9-3 win record against Sindhu and the latter’s last success against the Thai had come at the 2016 Rio games where she won in the quarters. “It will be a difficult match but I have a strategy and hope to do well. Silver? I hope I get gold, and I know I need to work hard for that,” said Sindhu when asked about her chances.
Their last five outings since Rio has ended in favour of Tzu and the Indian will need something extra under her sleeves to get across the line in the finals.
In hockey, India rode on a hattrick by skipper Rani Rampal to outplay Thailand 5-0 in the final Pool B match to storm in to the finals. India went into the scoring act after the first two quarters. Rampal scored in the 37th, 46th, 56th minute while Monika and Navjot Kaur struck in the 52nd and 55th minutes to post an authoritative win.
India’s other medals came in the women’s long jump with Neena Varakil winning silver with a best jump of 6.50m. S
Sudha Shah also won silver in women’s steeplechase, finishing with a time of 9:40.03. Dharun Ayyasamy also won silver in men’s 400m hurdles breaking his own national record and finishing with a time of 48.96s.
Su Bingtian’s Asian Games gold in the 100 metres came as little surprise to many, including athletics boss Sebastian Coe, long an admirer of the pint-sized Chinese sprinter.
The 28-year-old streaked to victory in a competition record of 9.92 seconds in Jakarta at the weekend, missing the continental record by the tiniest of fractions.
Su edged out Nigeria-born Qatari Tosin Ogunode — younger brother of Femi Ogunode, with whom the Chinese star shares the continental best of 9.91 — on a night when six African-born athletes bagged six track and field golds at Asia’s showcase sports event.
Ryota Yamagata — part of the 4x100-metre Japan team that took silver behind Usain Bolt’s Jamaica at the 2016 Rio Olympics, took bronze, underlining Coe’s confidence in the future of Asian sprinting. “You could argue Japan and China are two of the most improved athletics nations over the last six or seven years,” the Briton said in an interview with news agencies.
“For me it’s very clear — they’re making very good progress. If we’d been sitting here a decade ago, talking about potential here for a China athlete to run 9.8, you’d have probably taken quite long odds on that.”
Coe, president of track and field’s governing IAAF, pointed to China’s willingness to embrace overseas coaches after years of fostering suspicion of state-sponsored doping.
Su is coached by American coach Randy Huntington, while swim star Sun Yang’s partnership with Australian Denis Cotterell has helped turn him into a world-beater.
“If you look at the Chinese federation, they’ve been quite global,” said Coe. “They’ve recognised there are gaps in their own coaching structures and said ‘hey, let’s bring that talent to the table’. It’s a pragmatic approach. There’s been a greater clarity around the importance of coaching.”
Coe is aware of the massive void left by athletics megastar Bolt after the Jamaican legend’s retirement last year. But he also wants athletes to be personalities who can connect with fans.