Asian Games 2018: Day 13 round-up as India equals best ever tally

With two days remaining, India equalled their best-ever medal haul at the Asian Games. The number struck sixty-five this afternoon, levelling a record achieved eight years ago in Guangzhou.

Sailing was the big winner of the day.

Varsha Gautham and Sweta Shervegar, who had to fight even for a chance to make the Asiad squad, won India a Silver medal in Sailing. The pair finished second in the Women's 49er FX event, after completing fifteen rounds.

The Indian Men's 49er team brought back a medal as well. Varun Thakkar and Ganapathy Chengappa won the Bronze medal for India after finishing third over the course of fifteen races.

India's third and final Sailing medal came through Harshita Tomar, who won the Bronze in Mixed Open Laser 4.7 event.

Elsewhere, the Indian Women's Hockey team had to settle for Silver after their Final loss to Japan. Shimizu scored for Japan before Neha Goyal equalised. However, Motomi Kawamura scored deep into the third quarter to give Japan the lead yet again. From then on, the scoreline remained the same.

In Boxing, India started the day with some bad news.

Boxer Vikas Krishan was ruled out of the Semi-final due to an injury he sustained in the previous round. That, in turn, destroyed his hope for a second Asiad Gold and he had to be content with just the Bronze medal.

Krishan's withdrawal meant India only had one boxer remaining in this year's competition -- Amit Phangal. He did not disappoint as he beat Carlo Paalam of Philippines to reach the final.

The Men's Squash team also claimed a Bronze medal on Day Thirteen of the Asian Games. They were beaten by Hong Kong in straight games.

However, the Women's team went one better and reached the final of the competition. They will now face Hong Kong.

Elsewhere, the Bridge team did well too, with most of them being in a medal spot ahead of Final 2.

In table tennis, Manika Batra, Sharath Kamal, and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran were all in action on Day Thirteen of the Asian Games. All three paddlers were competing in the Round of 16. However, that is as far as the trio would make as each of them faced much higher-ranked opponents.

Manika Batra played against China's World No. 5 Wang Manyu. The Chinese proved to be too difficult for Batra, defeating her by four games to one. Sathiyan Gnanasekaran faced Japan's Matsudaira and lost 1-4 while Sharath Kamal faced Chinese Taipei's Chuang Chihyuan and lost 2-4.

The Women's Volleyball team played their Classification match. The match was to determine who finishes Ninth and Tenth in this year's competition. The Women's team faced Chinese Taipei and lost in straight sets.

There were more disappointments in Cycling as Esow Alben and Ranjit Singh failed to make it to the Round 2 of Men's Keirin.

In Canoe/ Kayak Sprint, only the pairing of Jamesboy Singh Oinam and Prakant Singh made it into the final. Rest were all eliminated in the early stages.

In Soft Tennis, the Indian Men's team lost all of their three preliminary matches scheduled for the day. The Women's team, on the other hand, did win one but lost two.

There was to be a further disappointment in Judo and Diving.

With this Day Thirteen coming to a close. India has already equalled their best ever tally, with the confirmation of two more medals to come. As a result, the eighteenth Asiad Games becomes India's best-ever pan-Asian Games.

Day Fourteen promises more thrills as the competition heads into its final two days.