Asian Games: Indian shuttlers, paddlers advance (Afternoon Lead)
By IANSTuesday, November 16, 2010
GUANGZHOU - Shuttlers Jwala-Ashwini and paddlers Sharath-Saha advanced into the next round but the women’s hockey team went down 0-3 to Japan and India’s judo campaign ended on the fourth day of competition at the Asian Games here Tuesday.
Commonwealth Games gold medallists Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa moved into the pre-quarterfinals of the badminton women’s doubles, going past Thailand’s Savitree Amitrapai and P. Munkitchokecharoen.
Gutta and Ponappa won the first game 21-13, before the Thai pair retired.
The Indians face a tough opponent in second-seeded Chinese pair of Tian Qin and Zhao Yunlei later in the day.
Another Indian pair of Aparna Balan and Prajakta Sawant lost to Malaysian NG Marylen Poauleng and Khe Wei Woon 17-21, 7-21.
Sharath Kamal and Subhajit Saha entered the pre-quarters of the men’s doubles table tennis with a comfortable 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 victory over H. Albahrani and M. Alenezy of Kuwait at the Asian Games here Tuesday.
Sharath and Saha, who won the doubles gold in the Delhi Commonwealth Games, next face tough opponents in South Koreans Jungwoo Lee and Sang Eun Ho in the round of 16 Thursday.
However, it was the end of the road for Sharath in the mixed doubles — he was partnering Shamini Kumaresan and lost in the pre-quarterfinals. The duo went down 12-10, 4-11, 11-8, 2-11, 6-11 to the Japanese pair of Seiya Kishikawa and Ai Fukuhara.
The other Indian men’s doubles pair of Soumyadeep Roy and Anthony Amalraj failed get past Cheung Yuk and Li Ching of Hong Kong and lost 5-11, 5-11, 7-11.
The men’s singles and women’s doubles first round matches will be played Wednesday.
The Indian women went down 0-3 to Japan in their second Group A hockey match.
Japan scored through captain Miyuki Nakagawa (10th minute), Chiba Kaori (31) and Arai Mazuki (70).
India had beaten Malaysia 4-0 in the first match.
India’s judo campaign ended after Tombi Devi and Navjot Chana bowed out in the quarter-finals.
Tombi, who was a medal hope along with judo World Cup bronze medallist Kalpana Devi, failed to score a point against Jung Yeon Chung and lost 0/110 in the women’s 48kg category. The contest lasted two minutes at the Huagong Gymnasium.
Navjot also lost his men’s 60 kg quarter-final 0/120 to Rishod Sobirov of Uzbekistan in little less than three minutes.
