India Wins Kabaddi Double as Asian Games Medal Gap Persists

India won both kabaddi gold medals at the Asian Games, but its overall medal tally remained well behind the leading nations at the midpoint of the competition.

The victories lifted India to four gold medals and 28 medals overall, short of the pace it would need to surpass its previous best of more than 100 medals. China led with 115 golds among 170 medals, followed by Japan with 30 golds among 123 medals. South Korea stood third with 14 golds and 70 medals.

India’s women defeated Iran 37-34 in the kabaddi final, while the men beat Iran 40-34. The two wins reversed India’s losses to Iran in both finals at the 2018 Games.

Three of India’s four golds came in team sports: women’s cricket and the two kabaddi events. The fourth came in the 10-meter air pistol mixed team event, where Kamaljeet and Inder Singh Suruki scored an Asian record 484.6 points. South Korea finished second with 478.0, followed by Iran with 415.3. Shooting accounted for six of India’s 28 medals.

India also had two opportunities to add squash golds after Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh reached their respective singles finals. Anahat beat Japan’s Satomi Watanabe 3-2 in a closely contested women’s semifinal. Abhay defeated Pakistan’s Mohammad Irfan in straight games in the men’s semifinal.

In mixed doubles squash, Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar took bronze after losing 10-11, 11-2, 10-11 to Ka Ya Lee and Ming Hong Tong.

India’s men’s and women’s hockey teams remained unbeaten. The men faced a tougher test in their final pool match against Japan but won 2-0 to retain first place in the group. In another men’s hockey match, Malaysia defeated Pakistan.

Badminton brought mixed results. India earned bronze in the men’s team event, but Lakshya Sen lost to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew 12-21, 21-15, 14-21 in singles. PV Sindhu advanced in the women’s singles draw with a 21-19, 21-14 win over Taiwan’s Chiu Pin-chian.

Unnati Hooda beat Malaysia’s Wong Ling Ching 21-14, 20-22, 21-19 and Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani 21-19, 21-13. Ayush Shetty defeated Kazakhstan’s Makhsut Tajibullayev 21-7, 21-7 before losing to Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 16-21, 21-19, 17-21.

In boxing, Jadumani Singh lost on points to the Philippines’ Carlo Paalam in the men’s 55-kilogram division. Kapil Pokharya defeated Iraq’s Sam Estakai on points at 90 kilograms, while Priya beat South Korea’s Oh Yeon-ji on points in the women’s 60-kilogram category.

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