Asian Games, Day 6: Bopanna/Sharan win gold, women's kabaddi team stunned in final

Hello and welcome to the highlights of Asian Games 2018, Day 6 action from Jakarta an Palembang. 

Medal winners of the day

Gold: Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan - Men's doubles tennis

Gold: Sawarn Singh, Dattu Bhokanal, Om Prakash, and Sukhmeet Singh - Rowing Men's Quadruple Sculls

Siver: India women's kabaddi team

Bronze: Dushyant Singh - Rowing Men's Lightweight Single Sculls 

Bronze: Rohit Kumar and Bhagwan Singh - Rowing: Men's Lightweight Double Sculls 

Bronze: Heena Sidhu - Shooting: Women's 10m Air Pistol

Bronze: Prajnesh Gunneswaran - Tennis men's singles

India's mixed day comes to an end with the men's hockey team thrashing Japan 8-0. 

Seven medals were won by India on Friday, with rowing and tennis contributing to the two gold medals. 

Joshna Chinappa has joined Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal Karthik in the semi-final of singles squash. 

The veteran Indian player defeated Chan Ho Ling of Hong Kong 3-1 in the women's singles quarter-final.

All the semi-final matches will be played tomorrow. 

Disappointing show from the Indian badminton contingent. 

HS Prannoy follows Kidambi Srikanth out of Asian Games 2018. The two highest-ranked Indian shuttlers haven't managed to win even a single match in the men's singles category. 

After Srikanth's loss to Wong Wing Ki earlier in the day, Prannoy loses to giant-slayer Kantaphon Wangcharoen, who had upset Chen Long at Malaysia Open earlier this year. 

Questions will be asked of the Indian badminton coaching teams, given the disappointing year the men's singles shuttlers have had. 

Pretty ordinary performance from Prajnesh Gunneswaran as top seed Denis Istomin wins semi-final 6-2, 6-2. Nonetheless, the bronze medal at the Asian Games should come as a big boost to the young Indian southpaw. 

 Tennis challenge from the Indian contingent comes to an end. 

Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan won the men's doubles gold while Ankita Raina and Prajnesh Gunneswaran finished with singles bronze.

Could we have added one more medal if Leander Paes were part of the Indian contingent? 

Manoj Kumar beats Sangay Wangdi of Bhutan to progress to the men's 69kg category pre-quarter-final. It was a comfortable win for the Indian boxer. 

Earlier in the day, Commonwealth Games Flyweight gold medalist Gaurav Solanki was knocked out in the first round. 

Badminton: Good news for Indian contingent after Kidambi Srikanth's disappointing exit.

Women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy has beaten Chow Mei and Lee Meng of Malaysia in three games — 21-17, 16-21, 21-19.

Squash: Two Indians assured of at least a bronze! 

Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal have assured themselves at least bronze medals after progressing to the squash singles final.

While Dipika defeated Kobayashi Misaki of Japan in straight games, Saruav defeated compatriot Harinder Pal Sandhu 3-1.

Boxing: Disappointment for Gaurav Solanki

The reigning Commonwealth Games flyweight champion Garuav Solanki has crashed out of the Asian Games with a first-round defeat to Tanaka Ryomei of Japan.

It was a commendable effort from Dipa Karmakar. Having suffered an injury earlier this week and missed the women's team final, the Olympic gymnast finished fifth with a score of 12.500.

Dipa's favourite event is vault but she did not qualify for its finals. She managed to sneak into the balance beam final and did herself proud!

Huge upset at the GBK-Istora! World number eight Kidambi Srikanth loses Round of 32 men's singles tie to lower-ranked Wong Wing Ki of Hong Kong in straight games. 

India's Dipa Karmakar is in the bronze medal position with a solid performance in the women's balance beam Artistic Gymnastics final. 

With a few double somersaults, Dipa scored 12.500 points — Difficulty 5.000, Execution 7.5000. 

Three more gymnasts to follow. 

China's Chin Yile, the 16-year-old gymnast, is leading the pack by a mile at 14.6000. Shiho Nakaji of Japan is at the second spot with 12.600. 

India's Dipa Karmakar is in action in the eight-woman Balance Beam final. She did not manage to qualify for the final of vault, her favourite event and had pulled out of the women's team final with a minor injury as well.

Will be interesting to see how the young gymnast goes about her job here. 

India's top-ranked men's singles shuttler loses first game of men's singles Round of 32 to Hong Kong's Vincent Ki Wong 23-21. 

Srikanth has been struggling for form and this is a tricky first-round test for the world number eight. 

What a thriller we have had at Theatre Garuda! The Iranian women have won the gold for the first time Asian Games history! They are certainly the new powerhouse of kabaddi. 

On the other hand, India women, who have not won anything other than gold since the introduction of kabaddi to the Games in 2010, have been forced to settle for a silver. 

The match went down the wire with Iran putting on a dominant show in the second half. India were leading 13-8 at the break but an array of nine points, including an all-out, helped Iran take the lead. 

Iran were cruising towards the win in the closing stages but India's Sakshi Kumari gave the holders hope in the penultimate minute of the match with a three-point raid. 

However, it wasn't enough as Iran went on to create history, beating India 27-24. 

Members from the Indian men's team, who had lost the semi-final yesterday to Iran, were cheering for Payel Chowdhury's women but they were left heartbroken after the unthinkable happened. 

Captain Ajay Thakur's reaction tells the kabaddi story of India at Asian Games 2018. 

Iran have stepped up since the break. They've been solid with defence and their raiders are getting the job done. They have now inflicted an all out to make it 17-13. Last nine points on the trot scored by Iran.  

India men's team captain Ajay Thakur is in the gallery and is witnessing familiar scenes. His team was completely outplayed by Iran in the men's semi-final yesterday. 

It's another tightly-contested match between India and Iran at the Games. At the end of first half, Indian women are leading by a slender two-point margin 13-11.  

Randeep Kaur nearly got a super raid towards the end of the first-half but only two points were awarded to the Indian team. 

India were having a five-point lead but Iran clawed back with a late surge. Can they deny India a hat-trick of gold medals? 

Notably, India and Iran men were tied at 9-9 at the end of the first-half in yesterday's semi-final but the latter ran away with the match in the second half, finishing the tie at 27-18. 

Defending champions India take on Iran in the women's gold medal kabaddi match. There is considerable pressure on the Women in Blue, considering the way in which their male counterparts were outclassed by Iran in yesterday's semi-final tie. 

Sawarn Singh, the senior most member of the men's quadruple gold medal-winning team, has told the Press Trust of India how they had worked their way to a top step of the podium earlier today.

Notably, Singh and Om Prakash were also part of the men's doubles sculls team, which came fourth in the final yesterday. 

"Yesterday we had a bad day but soldiers never give up. I told my teammates that we will go for the gold and we will give it all. It was about karo ya maro (do or die). And we did it," Singh said. 

Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan have been awarded their gold medals at the medal ceremony at the JSC Center. 

The two men have dominated the field and have lived up to their top seeds tag. 

There was a lot of controversy surrounding the Indian contingent in the lead up to the Games with Leander Paes pulling out of the event, days ahead of the star of the multi-sport event. 

This is the first Asian Games gold medal for Bopanna, the 38-year-old former French Open champion!

And let's talk about Divij Sharan a bit. What a couple years he has been having. With consistent performances on the ATP tour, the 32-year-old broke into the top 50 last year and is currently ranked 38. 

Divij had won a bronze medal in the men's doubles at Asian Games 2014 with Yuki Bhambri and he has done well to change the colour of the medal this year. 

Veteran shooter Heena Sidhu wins her first Asian Games individual medal, a bronze in the 10m air pistol shooting.

The 28-year-old shot a series of 10s towards the end and leapfrogged a couple of shooters to finish on the podium. In the last six series, there were only three shots below 10 for Sidhu.

Meanwhile, Manu Bhaker, the 16-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fifth in the final. 

What a performance from the India pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan. They were not broken once in the final, which they won 6-3, 6-4 against Bublik and Yevseyev of Kazakhstan. 

The pair win India's fifth gold medal at the Games! 

Somdev Devvarman, Asian Games gold medalist himself, says this win should help Bopanna win the Arjuna Award, which has been missing from the Karnataka player's kitty. 

Gold medal winners from the previous editions

Gaurav Natekar/Leander Paes - 1994

Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes - 2002

Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes - 2006

Somdev Devvarman/Sanam Singh - 2010

Both Manu Bhaker and Heena Sidhu have been extremely inconsistent so far in the final.

After two series of shooting, both the Indian shooters are not in the medal positions. 

India's Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan are 4-3 with a break up in the second set. Their service hasn't been broken yet in the one-sided final. 

India's 16-year-old Manu Bhaker and veteran Heena Sidhu are in the race for podium finishes at the 10m Air Pistol event. Notably, the two had finished 1-2 at Commonwealth Games earlier this year. 

Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan were hardly troubled in the first set. They have won it 6-3 and Rohan Bopanna is hitting his booming serves well. 

If the first set is anything to go by, India are just minutes away from their sixth gold medal at the Asian Games 2018. 

This will also be the fifth men's doubles gold medal for India at Asian Games. Divij had won the bronze at Asian Games 2014 alongside Yuki Bhambri.

Gaurav Natekar/Leander Paes - 1994

Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes - 2002

Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes - 2006

Somdev Devvarman/Sanam Singh - 2010

Rohan Bopanna is struggling with his serves but the Indians managed to get a crucial hold to go 4-1 up. This match could get over soon if the one-way traffic doesn't stop. 

Strong start for the Indian team. There were a few anxious moments in their first serving but they have done well to convert a break point early and go 2-0 up against the Kazakhstan pair. 

Rohan Bopanna's booming return did the trick of India in the second game. 

India's Divij Sharan and Rohan Bopanna are taking on Denis Yevseyev and Aleksandr Bublik of Kazakhstan in the men's doubles final. 

Ankita Raina receives her bronze medal during the women's singles medal ceremony. The 25-year-old gave it her all in the semi-final against top seed Zhang Shuai but fell short 6-4, 7-6(6). 

Notably, Raina had played all three events at the Games — women's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles. 

India's Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das suffered a shock 5-4 defeat to Mongolia in the Recurve Mixed team R32.

Meanwhile, Abhishek Verma and Jyothi Vennan have progressed to the quarter-final in the Compound mixed team event after beating Iraq.

The quarter-final and the semi-final rounds will be held later today.

Harjinder Singh and Amit Kumar have finished fourth and fifth, respectively in the men's 300m Standard Rifle shooting event. 

Choi Youngjeon of South Korea finishes with gold, Alharbi Hussain of Saudi Arabia wins silver while Lee Wongyu of South Korea take the bronze medal. 

India's Akshat, Jegan Sekar, Hardeep Singh, Sumit, Bhopal Singh, Jagvir Singh, Tejash Shinde, Pranay Naukarkar, Lakshman Maradapa finish fourth in the men's Lightweight Eight final.

The Indian unit clocked 6:15.00s, 0.14s slower than bronze medalists, Hong Kong.

Here's a quick look at the key events with Indian participation on Day 6.

All eyes will be on the Indian women's kabaddi team as the defending champions will be taking on Iran in the gold medal match. Notably, the Iranian men had beaten their Indian counterparts, seven-time Asian Games champions, yesterday in the semi-final.

Meanwhile, Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan will be hoping to win a gold in the men's doubles category today. 

Manu Bhaker and Heena Sidhu will also be in action in the women's 10m air pistol shooting final in the morning session. 

Dipa Karmakar will also be in action in the women's vault final from 3 pm IST. The focus will be on the young gymnast's fitness as she had pulled out of the women's team final yesterday with an injury. 

Also, Indian squash stars Saurav Ghosal and Harinder Pal Sandhu will be up against each other in the men's singles quarter-final in the afternoon session. 

Kabaddi

Women's gold medal match: 1:30 pm IST

India vs Iran

Tennis

Men's doubles final: 9:30 am IST

Rohan Bopanna/Divij Sharan vs Bublik/Yevseyev

Men's singles semi-final

Prajnesh Gunneswaran vs Denis Istomin: Not before 11:30 am IST

Shooting

Women's 10m Air Pistol final: 11:30 am IST

Manu Bhaker, Heena Sidhu

10m Running Target Men final: 1:30 pm IST

TBD

Badminton

Women's doubles Round of 16: 10:30 am IST

Ashwini Ponappa/Sikki Reddy vs My Lee/Chow (Malaysia)

Men's singles Round of 32: Not before 12 pm IST

Kidambi Srikanth vs Vincent ki Wong (Hong Kong)

HS Prannoy vs Kantaphon Wangcharoen (Thailand)

Gymnastics

Women's balance beam final: 3 pm IST

Dipa Karmakar

Men's vault final: 2:30 pm

Yogeshwar Singh (Reserve)

Squash

Men's singles quarter-final: 2:30 pm

Saurav Ghosal vs Harinder Pal Sandhu

Women's singles quarter-final: 2:30 pm

Dipika Pallikal vs Misaki Kobayashi

Women's singles quarter-final: 4:30 pm

Joshna Chinappa vs Chan Ho Ling

Weightlifting

Women's 63kg: 12:30 pm IST

Rakhi Halder

Boxing

Men's 69kg Round of 32: 4:30 pm IST

Manoj Kumar

Men's 52kg Round of 32: 5:30 pm IST

Gaurav Solanki

India now have five gold medals at Asian Games 2018. The total count reads 21. Here's where they stand on the medal table. 

What a morning session this is proving to be for the Indian rowers. Within an hour's time, they have won three medals, this time a GOLD!

Sawarn Singh, Dattu Bhokanal, Om Prakash, and Sukhmeet Singh clocked 6:17.13s to win the Men's Quadruple Sculls. They have finished above Indonesia and Thailand. 

Dushyant won the bronze in Men's Lightweight Single Sculls despite being unwell during the race. 

Both Manu Bhaker and Heena Sidhu have qualified for the final of 10m air pistol event. 

16-year-old Bhaker, who finished sixth in the 25m pistol event on Wednesday, qualified for the final at the third position with a total of 574 points. 

Meanwhile, Sidhu, who struggled in the early stages of the qualification round, shot 99 and 95 in her final two series to sneak into the final at the seventh spot. 

The two women had finished 1-2 at Commonwealth Games and they need to be at their best in the final to repeat the feat at the continental level later today. 

Minutes after Dushyant won his medal in the Lightweight Single Sculls, Indian pair of Rohit Kumar and Bhagwan Singh have finished with bronze in the Lightweight Double Sculls.

They clocked 7:04.61s and finished behind Japan and South Korea. 

It's good to see rowers winning medals today as there were quite a few near-misses yesterday. A strong start to Day 6 where quite a few medal probables will be vying for glory. 

Rowing: India's Dushyant wins bronze in Men's Lightweight Single Sculls.

The 25-year-old rower finished with a timing of 7:18.76s, 6.10s slower than gold medalist Park Hyunsu of South Korea. 

Notably, Dushyant won the bronze at the same event in the 2014 Incheon Games. He had clocked 7:26.57s in the Final A four years ago.