Paddler Vaga Ram, tennis team
keep India's hopes alive
Harpal Singh Bedi and C N R Vijaykumar in Bangkok
The paddlers kept India's medal hopes sailing as they entered the finals of the men's canoeing and kayaking events while the men's tennis team cruised into the quarterfinals on the third day of the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok today.
Armyman Vaga Ram, who clocked 4:26.27 to enter the C-1 final, finished behind Seung Woo Lee of South Korea who came in first in 4:23.52.
Vaga Ram had finished third in the first heat with a timing of 6:24.00.
In the K-1 1,000m for men, India's Baroi Pijush Kanti finished third in the semi-final, clocking 3:66.74. South Korean Kwang Soo and Tong Su Kang of North Korea finished first and second with timings of 3:47.46 and 3:55.75, respectively. Baroi had a timing of 4:33.06 in the heats.
In the K-2 men's 1,000m semi-final, the Indian pair of A Srivastava and Prem Kumar Rai finished third with a timing of 4:4.59. Uzbekistan finished first with a timing of 3:43.27 followed by Iran in 3:56.95.
Indian women whip Thailand 13-0
In women's hockey, skipper Pritam Thakaran and Manjinder Kaur scored three goals each as India began their gold hunt trouncing hosts Thailand 13-0 in a round robin league match tonight.
Playing under floodlights at the Kasetsart University in Bangkok, India, who finished fourth at the Hiroshima Games, got seven of their goals in the first half and looked impressive despite playing a lowly team.
Such was their precision that it would not have been surprising had they scored six more goals, but for the poor finish.
Chanu ends up seventh in weightlifting
But India received a setback when its men's volleyball and women's tennis teams were eliminated from the competition.
The weightlifters also failed to lift India's spirits with Sanamacha Chanu finishing seventh in the 53kg (women) class in which China's Yang Xia created a world record.
Twenty-year-old Chanu lifted 187.5 kg, 2.5 kg less than her best. She lifted 82.5 kg in snatch and 105 kg in the clean-and-jerk.
China's Yang Xia with 120.0kg in the clean-and-jerk broke countrywoman Wang Xiufen's world mark of 117.5. She also eclipsed Wang's total lift record of 210.0, hauling 212.5 kg.
"It was a good performance. She set a national record in the snatch," coach Pal Singh Sandhu later said.
"In the clean-and-jerk, after lifting 105kg, we decided that she should lift 110 kg, but unluckily she failed. Otherwise, she would have finished fourth," he added.
Indian girls eliminated in freestyle swimming
In the women's 200m freestyle, Nisha Millet and Sikha Tandon finished third and fourth respectively in the first heat.
Swimming in lanes three and six, respectively, Millet clocked 2 minute 08.67 seconds, while Tandon finished in 2:12.25. But among the 15 swimmers in three heats, Tandon finished 12th and Millet 10th.
Eri Yamanoi of Japan had the best timing of 2:00.99 in the third heat. Chinese medal hope Yani Chen clocked 2:01.52 to come first in the second heat and Caini Qin, also of China, finished first in the first heat in 2:01.70. Chinese swimmer Le Ying holds the Asian Games record of 1:59.77, created in Hiroshima.
The Indian women swimmers are primarily in Bangkok to participate in the freestyle relay events. But they have also been entered for some individual events to gain experience.
Playing without Mahesh Bhupathi, India blanked inexperienced Qatar 3-0 to move into the quarterfinals of the men's team tennis tournament even as their women counterparts and the spikers crashed out.
Before the match, India's non-playing captain Jaideep Mukherjea said: "We would not like to overburden Bhupathi. We will have to get our calculations right in order to win as many medals as we can without [Leander] Paes".
Shooters off the mark again
The Indian shooters also disappointed again, finishing last in the skeet event. The trio of Rao Inder Singh, H S Bedi and Rahoul Rai aggregated 316, much below the 356 mark that won the Kuwaitis the gold.
None of the Indians qualified for the last 25 shots with Inder Singh finishing 19th (an aggregate of 112 from 125 birds). Bedi was 30th (106). Rai at 98 was the only shooter not to cross the three-figure mark.
Poor show in equestrian too
India also trailed in fourth place in the five-team field at the end of the opening day of the three-day equestrian competition.
In the dressage test, which was held today, the Indian quartet of Imtiaz Anees, Amolkit Singh, Rajesh Pattu and Palwinder Singh aggregated 211.60 points for the fourth slot.
The leader in the field was Japan with 149.60 points, followed by hosts Thailand, 171.40, and Korea, 197.20. Malaysia was last with 218.00 points.
In the individual dressage test, Imtiaz Anees riding Mirza collected 67.20 penalty points, Amolkit Singh astride Samrat earned 68.00 points, but it was Rajesh Pattu on Ringo who gave a dismal display, failing to control his horse and conceding 88.2 penalty points. Palwinder Singh on Nector also fared poorly, garnering 76.40 penalty points.
The individual points are added up to get the team's total.
But for Pattu and Singh's poor showing, India would have finished third.
The best performance of the day came from Japan's Sachko Kodra who riding on Stars de Riols. He conceded the minimum 45 penalty points.
Tomorrow the Indians will figure in the endurance event and on December 10, show jumping will be held. At the end, the total points of all three events will be calculated to decide the medal winners.
UNI
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