Boxer Mary Kom settles for bronze, India’s Asiad tally at 46 (Evening Lead)

GUANGZHOU - World champion boxer MC Mary Kom had to settle for a bronze as did compatriot Kavita Goyat, while an archery silver and bronzes in men’s boxing and men’s and women’s team squash lifted India’s Asian Games tally to 46.

Boxers Vikas Krishnan and Dinesh Kumar assured themselves of at least a silver as they qualified for the men’s final and the men’s and women’s kabaddi teams, favourites for the gold, stormed into the semifinals with dominating victories. Ashwini Chidananda Akkunji and Jauna Murmu qualified for the women’s 400 metres hurdles with personal best timings.

The Indian women’s hockey team, however, went down 0-1 to Japan through the golden goal to finish fourth at the Asiad.

India’s 46 medals on the 12th day of competitions comprise seven gold, 13 silver and 26 bronze.

Mary Kom, a five-time world champion, lost 7-11 to Ren Cancan of China in the semifinals, trailing from the start in the 48-51 kg category. Ren, the world champion in the 51kg, opened up a 3-1 lead before Mary Kom narrowed it down to 3-4 after the second round.

The Chinese, however, dominated the third round, scoring three points to Mary Kom’s one to move ahead. Ren was as good with her defence as she was with her attack and that frustrated Mary Kom, who desperately searched for a opening to land her punches. Ren, however, gave her no room and counter-punched with great effect to take the fight beyond the Indian.

Kavita Goyat lost her semifinal bout 1-5 to Jinzi Li of China in the 69-75 kg weight category.

Armyman Tarundeep Rai won the lone silver in the men’s individual recurve event as India finished their archery campaign at the Asian Games with a silver and two bronze medals, their best ever performance an the event.

While boxers Vikas Krishnan and Dinesh Kumar assured themselves of at least a silver, compatriots Suranjoy Singh and Paramjeet Samota had to settle for the bronze.

Vikas won 7-0 against Hurshid Tojibaev of Uzbekistan in the men’s 60 kg semifinal while Dinesh defeated Nepal’s Deepak Maharjan in the semifinal of the 81 kg at the Foshan Gymnasium.

In the final, Vikas will face China’s Hu Qing, who beat South Korean Soon Chul Han 10-7 and Dinesh will be up against Uzbekistan’s Elshod Rasulov, who defeated China’s Meng Fanlong 12-1.

Suranjoy Singh had settle a bronze in the men’s 52 kg after going down fighting 5-6 to China’s Yong Chang.

The men’s +91 kg semifinal bout between Paramjeet and Zhang Zhilei had to be stopped by the referee in the dying seconds of the third round as the Chinese out-scored the Indian 15-3.

The Indian men’s squash team lost 0-2 to top seeds and arch-rivals Pakistan while the women went down to fancied Malaysia with an identical scoreline at the Asian Games Town Gymnasium.

India’s Siddharth Suchde, world No.73, had his chances against Farhan Mehboob, world No. 30 but lost 14-16, 12-10, 9-11, 5-11.

India’s No.1 Saurav Ghoshal, ranked 25th in the world, lost 13-15, 11-5, 5-11, 6-11 to world No.23 Aamir Atlas Khan, who belongs to the clan of legendary Pakistani Jansher Khan.

The women’s match was a one-sided affair. India’s Anaka Alankamony lost 2-11, 4-11, 6-11 to Low Wee Wern in 22 minutes while world No.37 Joshana Chinappa went down tamely to World No. 1 Nicol David 4-11, 2-11 3-11 and team had to settle for a bronze.

The men’s kabaddi team, which has won five gold medals in the sport since its inception at the 1990 Beijing edition, eased past South Korea 37-19 to top Group A ahead of Bangladesh, South Korea and Nepal.

They next play Japan for a place in the final Thursday. The other semifinal will be between Pakistan and Iran.

The women’s event, which is making its Asian Games debut, has given India the opportunity to add one more gold to its medals tally. They defeated South Korea 47-21 to come first in Pool B and will now play Iran in the semifinals Thursday. The other teams in the pool are Bangladesh and Nepal.