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So far in the 2018 Asian Games, India is progressing slowly. There have been a few medals in the opening days of the games. However, we have yet to see an explosion of medals on a particular day. That feat was somewhat achieved on Day Four of the Asian Games.
Shooting brought a lot of talking points on Day Four. Manu Bhaker began the day on a bright note for India, when she broke the qualification Games Record in its namesake round. The youngster shot a total of 593 to advance to the final, just one short of the current World Record. Bhaker's compatriot Rani Sarnobat also qualified for the final of the same event, which was Women's 25m Pistol.
The first shock in the final came when Bhaker was eliminated from the final during the early stages. The 16-year-old fell behind the pack and never recovered. With the youngster eliminated, the pressure fell on Sarnobat to deliver. And boy, did she deliver.
Rani Sarnobat shot her way to an Asiad Gold in Women's 25m Pistol. The Indian shooter became the first Indian woman to win an Asiad Gold in Shooting, in the process.
Moving on from shooting, early hours of the day saw Indian participants contest Rowing repechages. In total, there were three Repechage rounds involving Indians- Rohit Kumar & Bhagwan Singh in Men's Lightweight Singles, Women's Four, and Men's Lightweight Eight.
All three of the Indian teams participating in their respective categories ended up qualifying for the final.
Swimming returned on Day Four with more Indian participation. Avinash Mani and Sajan Prakash began the event with Men's 100m Butterfly heats. However, neither qualified for the final. Moreover, Sandeep Sejwal suffered from the same fate in Men's 100m Breaststroke.
There was to be yet another final appearance for India, however, as the Men's team made the cut in 4x100 Freestyle Relay. However, they finished eighth in the final itself.
The Indian Men's and Women's Hockey teams thrashed their opponents on Day Two and Day Three of the games.
The Men's team decimated Indonesia by a scoreline of 17-0, while the Women's team trounced Kazakhstan 21-0. One would say that that in itself is a huge achievement. One would then discover that the Indian Men's team went nine better and beat Hong Kong 26-0 (YES. TWENTY-SIX!).
Moving on from Hockey, we take a look at some sports which went under the radar.
In Taekwondo, Navjeet Mann beat Lao PDR's Phommavanh Somsanouk by the score, 32-18, in the Men's 80 Kg Round of 32. However, Mann's joy did not last long, as he lost in the very next round to China's Chen Linglong.
In Bridge, there were three Indian teams in action. The Men's team were placed third after Qualifying Round 3 yesterday. However, today, they dropped down to ninth in Rounds 4 and 5. The Mixed team were placed third after yesterday as well and ended up climbing one place after three more rounds today. The Super mixed team climbed one place to ninth after today's rounds.
In Artistic Gymnastics' Women's team final, India finished seventh. Star Gymnast Dipa Karmakar had to pull out of the event due to an injury.
Elsewhere, in Volleyball, the India Men's team faced Qatar in their Pool match. They were well and truly beaten in the end, losing the tie in straight sets. There was disappointment in Wrestling as well. Despite their hard work, none of the grapplers could manage a medal in today's events. Harpreet Singh went the closest to winning one but he lost the Bronze medal bout.
Nevertheless, Tennis showed some promising signs.
There were plenty of Indians in action on Day Four of the Asian Games. Ramanathan Ramkumar and Prajnesh Gunnewaran both contested the Men's Singles Quarterfinals. While Ramanathan lost his match by two sets to one, Prajnesh won his by the same margin.
In Women's Singles, Ankita Raina showed more promise as she beat her opponent, Hong Kong's Chong in straight sets. The Indian moves on to the Semifinal where she will face China's Zhang Shuai.
However, Raina could not achieve a similar feat in the Women's Doubles Quarterfinals, as she and Thombare fell to Kazakhstan's Ainitdinova and Danilina. In Men's Doubles, on the other hand, Bopanna and Sharan advanced to the Semifinal, while Ramanathan and Nagal were knocked out.
Stars of the day Bopanna and Raina also advanced in the Mixed Doubles category, where they will be playing in the Semifinal next.
Finally, there was a surprise package in the form of Wushu. Four martial artists- Roshibina Devi, Santosh Kumar, Surya Bhanu Pratap Singh, and Narender Grewal- had yesterday advanced to the Semifinal. Although all four lost in their respective Semis, they brought back Bronze medals.
There was also a wonderful display of sportsmanship in Wushu, as Surya Bhanu Pratap Singh's opponent Erfan Ahangarian carried him off the court after the Indian had suffered a terrible injury.
This was all that happened on Day Four. The 2018 Asian Games return on Day Five with the promise of more action and thrills.
