Indian women’s hockey team is set to break the 44-year-old drought in the Asiad Games clinching Gold after making it through the semi-finals. Ishika Chaudhary in the 44th minute scored a number while skipper Salima Tete added a second in the 48th minute beating South Korea 2-0 in the semi-finals.
The last gold came at the 1982 New Delhi Games. India are unbeaten in the tournament and will take on defending champions China in the final. A win would also put India directly into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Wednesday was a strong day elsewhere too. India won four golds on Day 11, sweeping the compound archery team titles and setting an Asian record in mixed trap shooting. The women’s compound team beat China with a world record score. Chikitha Taniparthi and Sahil Jadhav won the mixed team gold in a shoot-off against Korea. Kynan Chenai and Neeru Dhanda beat Qatar in the trap mixed team final. Boxer Lovlina has also reached a final, and the men’s squash team has assured itself another medal.
India’s tally stands at 58 medals, 10 of them gold, 21 silver and 27 bronze, which put the country seventh.
Earlier in the day, Compound Women’s Archery team came up with a solid turnaround to beat China in gold medal match to secure the title of the event for India. With the women’s team continuing its impressive campaign, it was an additional feather in the cap of the Indian contingent in their archery success record. India later scored the gold in the Compound Mixed Team competition.