NEWSPost India

Guangzhou - India downed sub-continental rivals Pakistan 3-2 in men’s hockey at the Asian Games Saturday, while silvers in golf and sailing and bronzes in snooker and squash took the country’s medal tally to 24. India also entered the medal round in three tennis events. The Indian men spikers continued their impressive run as they beat Qatar 3-0 to enter the quarterfinals of the volleyball competition. The eves, however, lost to Japan 0-3 in a Group B preliminary match.

Indian archers found the going tough in the men’s recurve competition at the Aoti Archery Range, finishing fourth in the team qualification after the FITA round. After eight days of competitions, India dropped to 14th place in the medal’s tally, its 24 comprising two gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze. China head the table with 270 medals (138-65-67), followed by South Korea-152 (52-43-57) and Japan-136 (29-52-55). Iran, Hong Kong, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, North Korea, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Uzbekistan, Indonesia and Malaysia are the other countries above India.

Drag-flicker Sandeep Singh (3rd minute, 48th) converted two penalty corners for India in their group B match, while Dharamvir Singh (16th) slotted one in men’s hockey. Rehan Butt (4th) and Shakeel Abbasi (48th) scored for Pakistan. India led 2-1 at half-time. The win has catapulted India to the top of group B as they have won all their three matches. Pakistan and Japan are in second place with six points each from three matches. India next face Japan Sunday. The win completes India’s hat-trick of victories against Pakistan in major tournaments this year, having demolished the arch-rivals in the World Cup and last month’s Commonwealth Games.

Though Pakistan stretched themselves to reverse the trend, the Indians showed their new-found resolve to keep them at bay. It was by no means a clinical performance by the Indians, but they did enough to enjoy an upper hand for the major part of the game.