Gold medalists India's Swapnil Suresh Kusale, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Akhil Sheoran pose with their medals at the awards ceremony for the Shooting 50m Rifle 3 Positions Team Men's Final of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. - AP
HANGZHOU, China (Reuters): India's shooters enjoyed another strong day at the Asian Games on Friday, with their men's 50m rifle team breaking the world record on the way to beating China for gold on day six of competition in Hangzhou.
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Suresh Kusale and Akhil Sheoran secured gold with a total of 1,769 points, six points more than China and eight more than the previous record set by the United States last November.
Kusale, 28, said it was a "great experience" with a "great team".
"We are like brothers," Kusale said. "We help each other and stick together."
Their achievement, one of six golds for India so far in shooting in Hangzhou, earned praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"A stupendous win, prestigious gold and a world record," he posted to his 92 million followers on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter. "They have shown exceptional determination and teamwork."
China's racewalkers gave the host nation plenty to cheer on Friday with a one-two finish in the men's and women's 20km events.
"I was the champion in the last Asian Games and to become champion now was not easy because these past two years I have actually experienced ups and downs," said 20km world record holder Yang Jiayu after pipping compatriot Ma Zhenxia to gold by one second.
At the tennis 2023 U.S. Open quarter finalist Zheng Qinwen, beat her compatriot Zhu Lin 6-2, 6-4 to win gold in the women's singles and secure a quota for next summer's Olympics.
"The feeling was incredible," she said. "I'm really happy about that. That was not an easy match.
"As you can see, there's a lot of emotion on the court for both of us."
LOVE FOR MESSI
As expected Thailand dominated in sepak takraw winning both the men's and women's Team Regu. Popular in southeast Asia, sepak takraw is like volleyball only players use their feet, knees, chest, shoulders and heads instead of their hands, often involving acrobatic, flying kicks.
"I love Lionel Messi," said Thailand's men's team player, Pattarapong Yupadee, 39. "And I hope that this sport (sepak takraw) will spread throughout the world and that every continent can play this sport, because I think it's a very charming sport."
Afghan boxer Mohammad Khaibar Nooristani has been provisionally suspended at the Asian Games after failing an anti-doping test, the International Testing Agency (ITA) said.
He is the first athlete at the Games to be announced as having failed a drugs test.
The 37-year-old, who had been set to compete in the men's 63.5-71kg category, has been informed of the case. He can request the analysis of the B-sample.
Another athlete not competing at the Games is Li Wenwen after China’s Olympic weightlifting champion and world record holder pulled out due to an elbow injury, Games organisers said.
Li was withdrawn from the competition, which is due to run from Saturday until Oct. 7, after sustaining an injury during the recent World Championships in Riyadh, they added. (Reporting by Martin Quin Pollard and Ian Ransom; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Christian Radnedge)
