Asian Games, September 28 schedule: spotlight on Manu Bhaker, Avinash Sable and cricket

ByTech Word News

India heads into the Asian Games medal table on September 28 and 12 with 37 medals, including four gold, 16 silver and 17 bronze. On 27 September, seven medals in athletics and squash, but no gold, dropped India from 10th to 12th in the rankings.

Athletics led with five medals. Ancy Sojan and Sarvesh Kushare won silver while Parul Chaudhary, Tejaswin Shankar and Harita Bhadra took bronze, Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh added silver medals in squash. Three Indian boxers, Ankush Panghal, Parveen Hooda and Narender Berwal, also secured medals by reaching the semi-finals.

Manu Bhaker now returns to the limelight and has a chance to change the tone of his games. She finished fifth in the 10m air pistol final, while India missed out on a medal in the women’s team event as well, adding to a frustrating campaign so far for the shooting contingent, which has not quite lived up to expectations in several pistol and rifle events.

The men’s cricket team also faces a bigger test. India survived a difficult rain-hit five-over warm-up against Japan to win by just two runs after being restricted to 32/4 before holding Japan to 30/3. It was a useful preparation, but the real challenge begins now that Afghanistan await in the quarter-finals.

MANU GETS ANOTHER PICK

Bhaker’s next opportunity comes in the women’s 25m pistol, where she is the defending champion at the Asian Games. She, Esha Singh and Rahi Sarnobat will compete in the quick phase from 6:10 am IST, with the singles final scheduled for 10:45 am subject to qualification.

The event gives Bhaker a chance to overcome the disappointment of the 10m pistol. She qualified third for this final but finished fifth, while the Indian women’s team finished fourth after being tied on points with Vietnam.

Esha and Rahi will also aim for another shooting medal while Neeru, Manisha Keer and Aashima Ahlawat compete in the women’s trap and Kynan Chenai, Ahvar Rizvi and Shapath Bharadwaj in the men’s qualification.

THE SABLE IS RETURNING TO THE FRAMEWORK

For Avinash Sable, September 28 marks a return to the Asian Games event he won in 2023. His 3000m steeplechase final at 16:17 IST comes after a serious knee injury and a long layoff from steeplechase events.

Sable will not be the only Indian athlete in the limelight. Murali Sreeshankar competes in the men’s long jump final at 4.30pm, while Parul Chaudhary returns to the women’s 5000m final at 5.13pm after winning bronze in the 3000m steeplechase on 27 September.

The evening also features the men’s 1500m, javelin, women’s 800m and men’s 4x400m and women’s 4x100m relays, giving athletics another major opportunity to add to India’s medal tally.

MEN’S CRICKET FACES MAJOR TEST

India men begin their Asian Games campaign in the quarter-finals against Afghanistan at 10:00 IST. The women’s team has already secured gold after defeating Sri Lanka, but the men are only now entering their own competition.

The Japanese warm-up offered little room for complacency. Rain reduced the match to five overs a side, India managed just 32/4 and Japan came within two runs of the upset before finishing on 30/3. The result went in India’s favour, but Afghanistan presents a significantly bigger test, where progress to the semi-finals is at stake.

Defeat will end India’s campaign while a win will keep their gold medal push alive. Apart from cricket, Lovlina Borgohain begins her boxing campaign in the women’s 75kg quarter-finals, while the men’s hockey team faces Bangladesh and India in important matches in squash, tennis, volleyball and sepak takraw as well.

INDIA FULL SCHEDULE SEPTEMBER 28

All times are in IST and are based on the official schedule of India.

Surfing

  • 3:58 – Men’s Shortboard Round 3: Sivaraj Babu
  • 6:46 AM – Men’s Shortboard Round 3: Kishore Kumar
  • 9:26 a.m. – Men’s shortboard quarterfinals, subject to qualification

Archery

  • 4:45 – Men’s Round 1/16: Sahil Rajesh Jadhav Vs. Jamiyangombo Purevdorj, Mongolia
  • 4:45 – Men’s Lineup 1/16: Thirumuru Ganesh Maniratnam Vs. Sostar Andaru Rinaldi, Indonesia
  • 5:25 – Men’s line-up 1/8, subject to qualification
  • 9:45 – Women’s Draw 1/16: Jyothi Surekha Vennam Vs. Zhexenbinova Adel, Kazakhstan
  • 9.45am – Women’s Lineup 1/16: Taniparthi Chikitha
  • 10:25 – Women’s 1/8 line-up, depending on qualification

Shooting

  • 6.10am – Women’s 25m Medley Final: Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh, Rahi Sarnobat
  • 6.10am – Women’s 25m Quick Qualifier: Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh, Rahi Sarnobat
  • 6.30am – Men’s Trap Qualifier: Kynan Chenai, Ahvar Rizvi, Shapath Bharadwaj
  • 6.30am – Women’s Trap Qualifier: Neeru, Manisha Keer, Aashima Ahlawat
  • 10.45am – Women’s 25m Individual Pistol, subject to qualification

Kick Takraw

  • 6.30am – Women’s Doubles Group B: India Vs
  • 10.30am – Women’s doubles semi-finals, subject to qualification

Tennis

  • 6:30 – Men’s Singles: Sumit Nagal vs Seongchan Hong, South Korea
  • 6:30 – Men’s Singles: Dhakshineswar Suresh Vs. Gunawan Trisnawijaya, Indonesia
  • 7.30am – Women’s Doubles: Ankita Raina/Rutuja Bhosale
  • 9:00am – Men’s Doubles: Yuki Bhambri/Dhakshineswar Suresh
  • 9:00 AM – Men’s Doubles: Anirudh Chandrasekar/N Sriram Balaji
  • 9:00 AM – Mixed Doubles: N Sriram Balaji/Ankita Raina

Volleyball

  • 6:30 – Men’s preliminary round: India vs Hong Kong

Squash

  • 6:30 – Women’s Team: India Vs. China
  • 8:30 – Men’s Team: India Vs. China
  • 12:00 PM – Women’s Team: India Vs. Japan
  • 14:00 – Men’s Team: India Vs. South Korea

Sailing

  • 7:30 – Men’s Skiff/49er: Prince Noble/Manu Francis
  • 7.30am – Men’s Boat/ILCA 7: Vishnu Saravanan
  • 7:40am – Women’s Skiff/49er FX: Harshita Tomar/Shital Verma
  • 7.40am – Ladies Boat/ILCA 6: Nethra Kumanan
  • 8.30am – Mixed Boat/470: Shraddha Verma/Ravindra Kumar
  • 10.40am – Girls Boat/ILCA 4: Mahi Verma
  • 10.40am – Women’s Skiff/49er FX Races 6-9: Harshita Tomar/Shital Verma

Fight

  • 8:00am – Women’s 78kg quarter-final: Pinky Balhara
  • 10:40 a.m. – Women’s semi-finals up to 78 kg subject to qualification
  • 11:30 – Women’s 78kg final, subject to qualification

Cricket

  • 10:00 AM – Men’s quarter-final: India vs Afghanistan

Box

  • 10:00 – Women’s 75 kg quarter-finals: Lovlina Borgohain
  • 2.15pm – Women’s 60kg quarter-final: Priya
  • 3.45pm – Men’s 90kg quarter-final: Kapil Pokhariya

Athletics

  • 14:35 – Women’s discus final: Seema, Sanya Yadav
  • 15:09 – 4x100m medley relay Round 1: India
  • 15:53 ​​- Women’s 400m Hurdles Final: Vithya Ramraj, Anu Raghavan
  • 16:03 – Men’s 400m Final: Santosh Kumar
  • 16:17 – Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Final: Avinash Sable
  • 16:30 – Men’s Long Jump Final: Sreeshankar Murali, David Solomon Patturaj
  • 16:38 – Men’s 1500m final: Yoonus Shah, Gulveer Singh
  • 4.45pm – Men’s javelin final: Rohit Yadav, Yashvir Singh
  • 16:50 – Women’s 800m Round 1: Gowthami Jayaraman
  • 17:00 – Women’s 800m Round 1: Pooja
  • 17:13 – Women’s 5000m final: Parul Chaudhary, Seema
  • 18:01 – Men’s 4x400m relay Round 1: India
  • 18:34 – Women’s 4x100m relay final: India

Hockey

  • 3.30pm – Men Group A: India vs Bangladesh

– The end