Asian Games 2023 Highlights, October 3: Gold for Parul Chaudhary; medals flow in as Track and Field athletes deliver

Asian Games 2023 Highlights, October 3: Indian Men's Kabaddi Team, Soft Tennis contingent in action for the first time, India bank on Athletics to improve medal tally. Follow Sportskeeda for Asian Games 2023 live Score updates on October 2.

That's that for the day...

...thank you for joining our coverage of today's Asian Games! We've had a wonderful time bringing all the action to you, and we hope you've enjoyed it as much as we did.

I mean...how could you not have? Annu Rani made sure you and I, and every other Indian ends the day on a happy note with that Women's Javelin Gold. But that wasn't the only Athletics Gold of the day either. Parul Chaudhary ran her 5 kilometres faster than everyone else that ran with her to ensure that the Gold medal from the Women's 5000m ended up on India's count for these Games.

Those Golds, in addition to the 2 Silver and 4 Bronze medals that ended up in Team India's kitty, made it a day to remember for sure. But that wasn't all we have had to celebrate over the course of the day, of course!

While India's official medal count is currently at 68, there's plenty more medals that have been confirmed in the contingent's favor, although those will only become official later on. Our favorite one from the lot comes from the world of Archery. The Compound Men's Individual semi-finals saw Ojas Pravin Deotale and Abhishek Verma reach the final (Ojas with a perfect score in both the quarters and the semis). What that means is that come October 7, India will have both Gold AND Silver in the event. Plenty to be pleased about right there.

And while the day has given us plenty to be pleased about, it's also given us enough to be tired about. And while we go back and rest ourselves with some much-needed sleep, we hope you do so too and join us for all the action coming up tomorrow. See you then!

BRIDGE - Men's Semifinal

A mixed bag of results for the Indian Bridge team who were locking horns with China. They have played the first three sessions now and will be playing the next three tomorrow.

Session 1: India beat China 62-22
Session 2: India tied with China 22-22
Session 3: India lost to China 17-31

CHESS

Meanwhile, after the fifth round, here are the results from the Chess Team events:

Men's Team:
India tied with Iran (2.0 - 2.0)
Gukesh D lost to P Maghsoudloo (0.0 - 1.0)
Praggnanandhaa RB won against S Tabatabaei (1.0 - 0.0)
Vidit Gujarathi tied with P Idani (0.5 - 0.5)
HK Pentala tied with B Daneshvar (0.5 - 0.5)

Women's Team:
India beat Mongolia (4.0 - 0.0)
Koneru Humpy beat H Turmunh (1.0 - 0.0)
Vaishali RB beat M Batkhuyag (1.0 - 0.0)
Vantika Agrawal beat E Altan-Ulzii (1.0 - 0.0)
SS Baskar beat B Bayarjargal (1.0 - 0.0)

BOXING

Men's +92kg Semifinal
Narender Berwal vs Kamshybek Kunkabayev: Round 3

Narender Berwal is knocked out!! Not a shocker here really. He looked tame throughout this bout and was sadly far from challenging his opponent. He settles for a BRONZE MEDAL but he will be disappointed on missing out on the gold medal bout as finalists in this category get an Olympic Quota. He loses on points 5:0

BOXING

Men's +92kg Semifinal

Narender Berwal vs Kamshybek Kunkabayev: Round 2

Narender still looks weak in this second round. Not attacking enough and really struggling to block his opponents punches. It is going to be really difficult for him to comeback now. It is now a knockout punch or nothing for the Indian. He has to go for broke here!

ATHLETICS - Women's Javelin Throw Final

GOLD MEDAL FOR ANNU RANI! Most Indians were anticipating Neeraj Chopra tomorrow in the Men's Javelin Throw but before that, in the Women's Javelin Throw, it is Annu Rani who delivers! She puts in a season best performance of 62.92m which was plenty to fetch her the Gold Medal! Oh this has been an absolutely terrific display from Rani and she will find herself on the podium! The Sri Lankan made a comeback, taking over the first position, but Rani was quick to snatch it back! There was not much competition in the last two rounds! Another Gold added to India's medal tally!

BOXING

Men's +92kg Semifinal
Narender Berwal vs Kamshybek Kunkabayev:Round1

Poor start by the Indian. The round is awarded to unanimously to the Kazakh boxer. Narender will have to me much more aggressive in the second round if he wishes to progress to the gold medal bout.

ATHLETICS - Women's Javelin Throw Final

Annu Rani's fifth attempt does not cross the 60m mark. It clocks in at 57.66 and her 62.92 continues to be the best yet. She is moments away from a Gold here in all likeliness!

BOXING

Narender Berwal will take on Kazakhstan's Kamshybek Kunkabayev in the Men's +92kg semifinal.

ATHLETICS - Women's Javelin Throw Final

ANNU RANI WITH AN EVEN BIGGER THROW! She breaks her own season best and gets in a throw of 62.92m! This comes just after Sri Lanka's Hatarabage had scored 61.57m to pip Rani earlier. But she's back and in style too!

ATHLETICS - Decathlon 1500m Final

SILVER FOR TEJASWIN! Shankar finishes two places above Sun in the 1500m but that's not enough to leapfrog the Chinese athlete but it is enough, however, to stay ahead of Maruyama, who finished third in the 1500m and takes bronze in the Decathlon as well. Apologies for the confusion that sentence would have caused. But, basically - 1. Sun, 2. Shankar, 3. Maruyama!

ATHLETICS - Women's Javelin Throw Final

We are down to the final eight contenders now, with three being knocked out after the first three attempts. Annu Rani, courtesy of being first after three rounds, will get to throw eighth and last in the next three rounds. She will exactly know whether she has to improve her score and by how much to win gold.

ATHLETICS - Decathlon 1500m Final

Shun Taue finishes the race in first place. Yuma Maruyama, who was right behind Shankar in third, finishes third while the Indian finishes fourth. Importantly though, Qihao Sun of China, who was leading before the 1500m, only finishes in sixth in the final event. We'll be back with the implications of this race on the Decathlon in just a bit.

ATHLETICS - Decathlon 1500m Final

Shun Taue of Japan has pulled away from Maruyama and Shankar, who are in second and third. We're into our final lap and Shankar will want to pick up the pace soon.

ATHLETICS - Women's Javelin Throw Final

Annu Rani's third attempt is of 59.24m. She continues to lead with her second attempt score of 61.28m. She's halfway through here and will be hoping to better her score even further in the last three attempts.

ATHLETICS - Decathlon 1500m Final

Tejaswin Shankar is currently in third place behind the Japanese athletes. He'll want to catch up with Maruyama, who's hot on his heels in the overall table.

ATHLETICS - Decathlon 1500m Final

Unfortunately, Tejaswin does currently have some heave strapping on his right thigh. The effects of a gruelling Decathlon showing currently.

ATHLETICS - Decathlon 1500m Final

The final event of the ten-event Decathlon is finally here. 1500m race to the finish. India's Tejaswin Shankar finds himself in second place heading into the event. He'd need a good finish to improve his standing or even maintain the Silver Medal position he's in currently!

ATHLETICS - Women's Javelin Throw Final

Meanwhile, in the Javelin Throw final, Annu Rani is leading! She was placed below the top three after the first attempt but her second, Season Best attempt of 61.28m takes her to the first position, edging past Japan's Marina Saito, who has a best of 61.10 from her first attempt.

ATHLETICS - Men's Triple Jump final

BRONZE FOR PRAVEEN! Bit disappointing to finish the event, in spite of all the excitement at the start of this comment. Aboobacker landed a 16.47m jump to see out the event. Praveen, in his turn, loses concentration and is unable to complete the jump, leading to a foul. Praveen's 16.68m jump in his first attempt and Aboobacker's 16.62m second attempt get the third and fourth respectively. Which means Praveen adds a bronze to India's medal tally.

ATHLETICS - Men's 800m final

SILVER FOR MOHAMMED AFSAL PULIKKALAKATH! Afsal holds his own on the innermost lane of the track to finish in second place. He had a shot at the gold as well but Saudi Arabia's Essa Ali Kzwani snuck ahead of the Indian runner right at the end and sprinted to the finish to take first place. In the end, Afsal finishes with a timing of 1:48.43.

ATHLETICS - Men's 800m final

Halfway into the race Mohammed Afsal is in the top three with Krishnan Kumar not too far behind.

ATHLETICS - Men's Triple Jump final

Praveen Chitharavel's 16.07m fifth attempt doesn't really alter his position either.

SPORT CLIMBING - Speed 1/8 Final

Right, not the best of results from the Women's Speed 1/8 Final in Sport Climbing. Anisha Verma, with a time of 13.417 loses to China's Di Niu, who had a time of 7.403 seconds.

Meanwhile, Shivpreet Pannu also lost her 1/8 final against Indonesia's Rajiah Sallsabillah, with a time of 9.997s as compared to the winner's 7.071s.

In the Men's side of things, Aman Verma narrowly lost out on his Speed 1/8 Final match against Indonesia's Veddriq Leonardo, with a time of 7.62s as compared to Leonardo's 7.452 seconds. That will be the end of the India's campaign today in Sport Climbing as they finish without a medal.

ATHLETICS - Men's Triple Jump final

Aboobacker jumps 16.35m for his penultimate attempt. Not good enough to take him into the medal places yet. He has one more opportunity to fix that, of course!

ATHLETICS - Men's 800m final

Two Indian athletes set to compete in the Men's 800m final as well. Krishnan Kumar, who has the fastest season best time (1:45.88) of all those on the field, will probably come in as one of the favourites. Mohammed Afsal isn't too far behind either, of course!

ATHLETICS - Women's Javelin Throw Final

We shift our attention to the Javelin throw now, where India's veteran 31-year old Annu Rani will be in action. Can she pull off something spectacular here and add further to the medal tally?

ATHLETICS - Women's High Jump Final

Pooja bows out of the competition. Heartbreak for her as she fails to clear the 1.83m mark thrice, which will not see her taking any further part in this competition. Meanwhile, with three four other athletes having cleared it, it means that there will be no medal from this event for India as both Pooja and Rubina are out of the reckoning.

ATHLETICS - Men's Triple Jump final

Might have needed some of that hype himself. Chitharavel's 16.34m jump doesn't really alter his standing in the competition either. Will stay in third.

ATHLETICS - Men's Triple Jump final

Abdulla Aboobacker's fourth attempt results in a 16.45m jump. It won't be enough to improve his place in the standings. Up next: Praveen Chitharavel, who is currently hyping up the crowd.

ATHLETICS - Women's 5000m Final

PARUL CHAUDHARY WINS GOLD!!! She's etched her name in the history books with a terrific finish! She was placed second with around 20m to go and a final burst of energy sees her go past the first-placed runner to finish with the Gold medal! What a player! What an achievement! Take a bow, Parul Chaudhary! You've made India proud! Meanwhile, Ankita, after being in the top four initially, ran out of steam and does not finish in the top few athletes.

ATHLETICS - Women's 5000m Final

Parul Chaudhary is in the second position! They go into the final lap! Meanwhile, Ankita has fallen back a touch here.

ATHLETICS - Women's High Jump

Pooja is through! After Rubina bowed out of the competition, Pooja manages to clear the 1.80m mark. She will advance to the next round, where they will try to clear the 1.83m mark.

ATHLETICS - Men's Triple Jump final

Praveen Chitharavel's third attempt is also a foul. He remains in medal contention though, of course. That 16.68m first jump sees him stay in third place, as of now.

ATHLETICS - Women's 5000m Final

Parul Chaudhary is currently in the fourth position and Ankita is following shortly behind, being in the fifth position. They will perhaps be preserving energy for a final burst before the finish. They have crossed around the halfway mark here.

BOXING

Men's 57kg Quarterfinal
Sachin Siwach vs Lyu Ping: Round 2

And the referee stops the bout. Sachin is knocked out!!! Lyu gets a cut near his right eye in the early minutes of the second round.The referee stops the fight and Sachin loses on points 1:4.

ATHLETICS - Women's High Jump

Oh well, Rubina Yadav bows out with three unsuccessful attempts at the 1.75m mark. Pooja has one attempt remaining at this. Can she keep India's medal hopes alive in this event?

ATHLETICS - Women's 5000m Final

Meanwhile, the women's 5000m final is underway as well, with Parul Chaudhary and Ankita in the race. They've taken off well and will be hoping for a medal!

BOXING

Men's 57kg Quarterfinal
Sachin Siwach vs Lyu Ping: Round 1

Fast hands by both boxers rely more on singular punches and jabs rather than combination shots. Both boxers are attacking with the Chinese landing more of his punches. Four judges give the round to the Chinese boxer.

ATHLETICS - Men's Triple Jump final

Abdulla Aboobacker fails with his third attempt. A foul means he will remain in fourth place. For now.

ATHLETICS - Women's High Jump

Rubina Yadav and Pooja are struggling! They both fail to clear the 1.80m mark. They will get a couple of more shots at this each and will definitely be hoping that they can make it count.

ATHLETICS - Men's Triple Jump final

Better performance from Abdulla Aboobacker, whose second attempt of 16.62m sees him temporarily placed in the top three before China's Yaming Zhu sent both the Indian athletes down a place with a gold medal-position jump of 16.94m. Praveen Chitharavel jumps 16.63m jump in the second attempt keeps him at third for now.

ATHLETICS - Men's 400m Hurdles Final

Disappointment for the Indian athletes in the Men's 400m Hurdles final as Qatar complete a 1-2 at the top. Yashas Palaksha and Santhosh Kumar finish in 5th and 6th respectively, with times of 49.39s and 49.41s.

BOXING

India's Sachin Siwach will take on China's Lyu Ping in the Men's 57kg Quarterfinals.

ATHLETICS - Women's High Jump

After Yubina cleared the 1.75m mark on the second attempt, Pooja replicates her success. Meanwhile. Singapore's Suat Li Michelle will bow out with three failed attempts here. We will finally see Kazakhstan's Dubovitskaya in action now, after she passed on the first three attempts!

ATHLETICS - Men's 400m Hurdles Final

Two Indian athletes are all set to participate in the Men's 400m Hurdles final. Santhosh Kumar and Yashas Palaksha will by vying for the medal postions in just a few minutes. Can they follow what Vithya Ramraj achieved in the Women's 400m Hurdles? We're about to find out!

ATHLETICS - Men's Decathlon Javelin Throw

A slightly better attempt from Tejaswin Shankar as he gets it slightly over the 50-m mark. It's his best attempt at 51.17m but he will continue to remain fifth on the table. The other athletes finish with their attempts and that's all we will have from the Javelin throw segment of the Decathlon. Tejaswin takes 606 points from this event and continues to be second! However, the gap between him and first-placed Qihao Sun has risen while third-placed Japanese Yuma Maruyama is catching up. Only the 1500m left now!