Asian Games: Parul, Annu golds help India inch closer to equal Jakarta medal haul

INdianow have 15 golds at Hangzhou 2023 with the total haul rising to 69, including 26silverand 28 bronze

- TRIDIB BAPARNASH 

A day after seizing the 3000m steeplechase silver, Parul Chaudhary clinched the gold medal in women’s 5000m before javelin thrower Annu Rani came up with a season best effort to add more glitter to India’s campaign on Day 10 of the 19th Asian Games, in which five bronze medals came from Vithya Ramraj (women’s 400m hurdles), Praveen Chithravel ( in photo) (triple jump), boxers Preeti Pawar (54kg) and Narender Berwal (+92kg), and the men’s canoe double 1000m pair of Arjun Singh and Sunil Singh Salam.

Later, Mohammed Afsal and decathlete Tejaswin Shankar wrapped up another fruitful outing for the country with silver medals in men’s 800m and men’s decathlon event.

India now have 15 golds at Hangzhou 2023 with the total haul rising to 69, including 26 silver and 28 bronze. That’s just one medal away from equalling their haul at the Jakarta Asian Games in 2018.

There were more medals confirmed on the day, with Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist and reigning world champion Lovlina Borgohain storming into the women’s 75kg final and in the process, booked her quota for the 2024 Paris Games. The compound archers also assured India a host of medals, with Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Ojas Deotale and Abhishek Verma reaching their respective finals. In squash, Saurav Ghosal entered the men’s singles semifinals, while the mixed doubles pair of Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu and Dipika Pallikal Karthik, and Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh also went into medal contention. Making their debut at the continental sporting extravaganza, the Indian men’s cricket team made it to the semifinals after handing Nepal a 23run defeat in their quarterfinal contest.