Nagoya, September 23: Mirabai Chanu ended India’s 28-year wait for an Asian Games weightlifting medal, and Jay Meena won the country’s first soft tennis medal on Wednesday. India won five medals on the day, taking their tally at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games to 12: one gold, five silver and six bronze.
Mirabai Chanu ends 28-year wait in weightlifting
Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu won silver in the women’s 49kg category with a total of 198kg. She lifted 87kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk.
North Korea’s Ri Song Gum won gold with 215kg, and Indonesia’s Luluk Diana Tri Wijayana took bronze with 191kg.
It was Chanu’s first Asian Games medal, 12 years after her first appearance at the Games. She is also the first Indian weightlifter on an Asian Games podium since Karnam Malleswari won silver in 1998.
Jay Meena wins India’s first soft tennis medal
Jay Meena took bronze in the men’s singles soft tennis event, becoming the first Indian to win an Asian Games medal in the sport.
President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Meena and said they hoped his result would encourage more young people to take up soft tennis.
Two skeet bronzes and one in badminton
India’s shooters won two medals as both the men’s and women’s skeet teams finished third.
Raiza Dhillon, Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Maheshwari Chauhan won bronze in the women’s team event. Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Ahmed Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill did the same in the men’s competition.
The men’s badminton team also won bronze, completing India’s five medals for the day.
India’s medal tally reaches 12
Wednesday’s medals came a day after India won their first gold of the Games, when the women’s cricket team beat Sri Lanka by 147 runs to retain their Asian Games title.
India now have 12 medals: one gold, five silver and six bronze.
