Unheralded Sandhyarani Devi's Silver Medal in Wushu was the lone bright spot for India in the 16th Asian Games at Guangzhou, China. The fancied shooters flopped yet again and India slipped to the 11th position on the medals table of competitions on Wednesday. The day clearly belonged to Sandhyarani for her feat of winning a silver medal in wushu, a traditional Chinese sport which integrates several martial art forms. The Manipuri lost 0-2 to Iran's Khadijeh Azadpour in the 60 kg final to fetch the second medal from the event.For India, the day saw below-par performances in most disciplines though pugilist Vijender and shuttler Saina Nehwal booked quarter final berths and the men's hockey team kept themselves in medal reckoning with a 9-0 trouncing of Bangladesh. Pugilist Vikas Krishan also had a good day as he romped into the pre-quarter finals in 60 kg ca China are continuing to maintain their top spot in the medals table.The women hockey team's chances of a medal was severely dented after going down to South Korea by a solitary goal. The Indian eves now need to win two of their last three matches to keep themselves in the race for a bronze medal.Indian archers, who stole the country's attention with their exploits in the Commonwealth Games last month, commence their campaign in the Asian Games on Thursday. They will be competing against a strong field that includes South Korea, who would be aiming for their eighth consecutive gold medal.At the end of the fifth day of the competitions the hosts China had a haul of 97 Gold, 39 Silver and 36 Bronze.South Korea are second with a tally of 29 Gold, 22 Silver and 31 Bronze. The third position is held by Japan with 17 Gold, 41 Silver and 35 Bronze.With the addition of just a silver medal, India's medal tally has risen to one gold, five silver and seven bronze.
News On AIR | November 18, 2010 9:22 AM
Sandhyarani Devi bags Silver medal in Wushu event at Guangzhou