Swapna Barman becomes first Indian heptathlete to win gold in Asian Games

Swapna Barman became the first Indian heptathlete to win a gold while Arpinder Singh ended a 48-year long wait for triple jump victory after Dutee Chand blazed the track for her second silver at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia last evening.

 

Barman battled sever tooth ache during her event and competed with a tape on her right cheek. Still, she produced her career-best performance by logging 6026 aggregate points from the seven events.

 

Arpinder jumped 16.77m in his third attempt to win the men's triple jump gold. India's last Asian Games gold medal in men's triple jump had come in 1970 from Mohinder Singh Gill.

India will aim to improve its medal tally in the games as Indian Athletes will feature in six different categories yesterday. Gold and Silver medalist in the men's 800 metres event Manjit Singh and Jinson Johnson will be in action in the men's 1500 metres final while Monika Choudhary and Chitra will vie for top honours in  Women’s 1500 metres final. 

Indian Men's and Women's team will also run for Gold in 4x400m relay competition. Govindan Lakshmanan will be seen in action in Men’s 5000 metres final. Sandeep Kumari and Seema Punia will feature in Women’s discus throw final. 

In Men's



Hockey, India will be up against Malaysia in the semi-finals.  In Squash, the women team will compete against Hong Kong in Pool B while Indian Bridge Men's, Women's and Mixed pair will play their semi-finals matches. 

In Table Tennis, Men's and Women’s singles events are opening today. The Indian paddlers featuring Manika Batra, Mouma Das, Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan will aim for another historic medal in the event. Indian athletes will also figure in Judo, Kurash, Volleyball, Sepaktakraw, Cycling, and Diving. 

India is currently 9th in the medals tally with 11 Gold, 20 Silver and 23 Bronze. Ritu Raj, Sports Desk. 

 

Dutee won a silver medal by finishing second in the women's 200 metres race. She had finished second in the women's 100 metres dash a few days before. 

In Table Tennis, Achanta Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra continued their splendid form by becoming the first Indian pair in history to get medal in the mixed doubles event. Kamal and Batra won bronze after losing to China's Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in the semi-finals yesterday. 

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have congratulated the winners on their success.