The Indian men’s team stumbled on the final hurdle against Hong Kong, and settled for a silver medal in the bridge competition at the Asian Games on Friday. India, a gold and two bronze-medal winner at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, lost to Hong Kong 152-238.1 in the gold-medal match at Hangzhou. The Indian team consisting of Sandeep Thakral, Jaggy Shivdasni, Raju Tolani and Ajay Prabhkar Khare could not challenge the Hong Kong outfit at any point during the six sessions, spread over two days. Indian men were trailing 1-2 after the first two sessions, and they made a woeful start, losing the day’s first session 32-42 to Hong Kong.
Trailing 1-3, India needed to win the second session on the day, but Hong Kong emerged a clear 38-17 winner to all but seal the gold with a 4-1 lead.
Hong Kong asserted their dominance in the sixth and final session with a 17-12 win.
Shivdasani said the team was quite satisfied with the silver medal-winning effort.
“You can’t be too disappointed. We got a bronze last time (at Jakarta), and at the start if you’d told me we’d get a silver medal, I would have taken it.
“We were not the favourites. China were the favourites along with Hong Kong, and to beat China in a well-fought semifinal was great,” he said.
The veteran player said Hong Kong outplayed them in the final.
“We were outplayed at the end by a team that played better than us in the final. They’re tough. They’re professionals. You have to up your game,” he added.
On whether bridge should become an Olympic sport, he said, “It has been approved as an Olympic sport, but there isn’t a slot for it, apparently. I hope it does become an Olympic sport. That would be great.”
Chess: India Men, Women Teams Remain in second spot
Indian men and women’s teams put up a strong show, posting convincing wins in the eighth round of the chess team competition at the Asian Games on Friday.
The men outplayed South Korea 3.5-0.5 while the women thrashed Hong Kong 4-0.
After eight rounds, both the teams are in second spot with a round to play.
In the India-South Korea match, D Gukesh went past Junhyeok Lee on the top board, while Praggnanandhaa got the better of Se Hyun Kwan.
Arjun Erigaisi’s win over In-Jung Gu came after a stiff fight with the Korean having gained an advantage before slipping up.
The experienced P Harikrishna salvaged a draw against Ahn Hongjin on the fourth board from what seemed a lost position.
The top-seeded men’s team meets the Philippines on Saturday in the final round while Iran comes up against South Korea.
In the women’s match, India did not have any trouble with the quartet of D Harika, R Vaishali, Vantika Agarwal and B Savitha Shri winning easily.
With none of the Hong Kong players rated above 2000 (Elo), the powerful Indian line-up outplayed their opponents.
In the men’s section, Iran continue to lead the standings with 14 match points (two MPs for a win and 1 for a draw) with India close on their heels with 13 MPs, followed by China (12) and Uzbekistan (11).
Among women, China continue to lead with 15 MPs, two clear of second-placed India with Kazakhstan further behind on 11.
India take on South Korea in the 9th and final round on Saturday while China face UAE.
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