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The Indian contingent at the 2018 Asian Games being held in the cities of Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia had a productive outing on the Day 6 of the quadrennial multi-sporting extravaganza. India managed to take its medal tally to 25 (6 gold medals, 5 silver medals, and 14 bronze medals) at the end of the day as they added six medals.
The Indian rowing team got their first gold medal in the entire Asian Games history when they won the top honour in the Men's Quadruple Sculls rowing race. Another gold medal was won by the doubles pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Divjij Sharan in the Men's Doubles event when they beat the Kazakhstani pairing of Aleksander Bublik and Denis Yevseyev with a 6-3, 6-4 straight sets score.
Two bronze medals were won in Rowing by the Indian men in the Men's Lightweight Doubles Sculls and Men's Lightweight Single Sculls events. Shooting produced a bronze medal for India as veteran shooter Heena Sidhu managed to win in Women's 10 meters Air Pistol with highly rated prospect Manu Bhaker missing out on a podium finish. The final bronze medal was won by Prajnesh Gunneswaran in Men's Singles Tennis event.
However, the biggest shocker of the day was for the Indian women;'s Kabaddi team as they lost out against Iran in the gold medal match. This was the first occasion since the inception of Kabaddi in the Asiads that both the Indian men and women have returned without a gold medal.
Day 7 will see a large bunch of Indian athletes take part and compete for a podium finish. We take a look at some of them who might raise the Indian flag with their performances.
Dipika Pallikal Karthik - Women's Singles (Squash)
The first Indian women to break into the top 10 in the Official Women's Squash rankings, Dipika Pallikal Karthik has been assured of medal finish after her win over Japanese counterpart Misaki Kobayashi in straight sets in the quarterfinal. She will take on Malaysian squash player Nicol Ann David in the first semifinal for a place in the gold medal match. Dipika has won two medals at the Asian Games before when she won the silver medal in the Women's team event and a bronze in the singles event. In addition to this, she has won a gold medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games in Women's Doubles and two silvers at the 2014 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in doubles and singles.
A win for Dipila can guarantee a silver medal and there is a strong possibility of an Indian gold-silver finish with the other semifinal having Joshna Chinappa in action.
Joshna Chinappa - Women's SIngles (Squash)
The other Indian in the fray for a medal in the Women's SIngles event is World No.17 Joshna Chinappa. She also has been assured of a podium finish with her win in the quarterfinals over Hong Kong, China's Ho Chan Ling. Chinappa has two Commonwealth Games medals to her credit having won a gold and silver in the Women's Doubles event at the 2014 Glasgow and 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games respectively. She can improve the bronze medal to at least a silver medal with a win today to grab her first Asian Games medal.
Saurav Ghoshal - Men's Singles (Squash)
India's most popular squash player and Arjuna award recipient Saurav Ghoshal will be competing in the semifinals of the singles event after his win over fellow countryman Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu in the quarterfinals yesterday. Ghoshal has had a successful run at the Asian Games winning his first medal at the 2006 Doha Games when he won the bronze medal in the singles event. Since then, he has added two bronze medals, one silver medal, and a gold medal at the subsequent games in 2010 Guangzhou and 2014 Incheon Games in both singles and doubles event.
The World No.17 ranked player is a strong favourite for a podium finish and will be raring to go for at least the silver with a win over Hong Kong, China's Au Chun Ming.
Anish Bhanwala - Men's 25 meters Rapid Fire Pistol
15-year old shooting sensation Anish Bhanwala will be in action on Day 7 in the Men's 25 meters Rapid Fire Pistol qualifications and expectedly the finals as well. The youngster has been a revelation in the past couple of years winning a lot of medals at the ISSF Junior World Cup and World Championships.
Anish became the youngest gold medalist at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games when he won the Men’s 25 meters Rapid Fire Pistol event. He will be a strong contender to finish on the podium for India and possibly even the gold medal.
Which of these probables do you think will end up with the gold on the podium? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
