The highly awaited Asian Games 2023, hosted in Hangzhou, China, have officially begun, marking the onset of Asia's premier multi-sport event. The grand opening ceremony, which took place on Saturday, was nothing short of spectacular, setting the tone for the exciting competitions ahead. While some preliminary events have already seen Indian athletes in action, the quest for medals truly begins on September 24, Sunday.
Looking back, India's performance at the 2018 Asian Games saw them finish at the eighth position on the medal tally. This year, hopes are high with expectations that the contingent will surpass this and achieve a higher rank in the medal count. The potential for clinching multiple medals on September 24 is strong.
Key Events to Watch Out For:
Cricket: India's women's cricket team will face Bangladesh in the semi-final at 6:30 AM IST. A victory here guarantees India at least a silver medal.
Shooting: Indian shooters, including Ramita, Mehuli Ghosh, and Ashi Chouksey, will begin their campaign in the 10m air rifle category, promising potential medals.
Rowing: The spotlight will also be on Indian rowers. Notable mentions include the Indian Men's Lightweight Double Sculls duo Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh, who've made it to the Final A. Other promising rowing events feature athletes like Babu Lal Yadav, Lekh Ram, and teams competing in the Men's Eight Final A.
In addition, both the men's and women's football teams will be battling it out on the field. The boxing ring will witness action with boxers like Nikhat Zareen stepping in.
Detailed Schedule for September 24 (Sunday):
Boxing
Women's 54kg Round of 16: Preeti Pawar (IND) vs Silina Alhasanat (JOR) - 11:45 AM
Women's 50kg Round of 32: Nikhat Zareen (IND) vs Thi Tam Nguyen (VIE) - 4:30 PM
Cricket
Women's cricket semi-final 1: India vs Bangladesh - 6:30 AM IST
Chess
Men's Individual rounds 1 and 2 (Vidit Gujrathi and Arjun Erigaisi) - 12:30 PM onwards
Women's individual rounds 1 and 2 (Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli) - 12:30 PM onwards
Esports
FC Online Round of 32 and bracket matches (Charanjot Singh and Karman Singh Tikka) - 8:00 AM onwards
Football
Women's first round Group B: India vs Thailand - 1:30 PM
Men's first round Group A: India vs Myanmar - 5:00 PM
Fencing
Men's foil individual (Dev and Bibish Kathiresan) - 6:30 AM onwards
Women's epee individual (Ena Arora and Taniksha Khatri) - 10:00 AM onwards
Hockey
Preliminary Men's Pool A: India vs Uzbekistan - 8:45 AM
Modern Pentathlon
Men's team: Mayank Vaibhav Chaphekar - 3:00 PM
Rugby sevens
Women's Pool F: India vs Hong Kong - 10:00 AM
Women's Pool F: India vs Japan - 3:35 PM
Rowing
Women's lightweight double sculls Final B (Kiran, Anshika Bharti) - 6:30 AM
Men's lightweight double sculls Final A (Arjun Lal Jat, Arvind Singh) - 7:10 AM - Medal event
Men's double sculls Final A (Parminder Singh, Satnam Singh) - 8:00 AM - Medal event
Women's coxless four Final A (Aswathi PB, Mrunamayee Nilesh S, Thangjam Priya Devi, Rukmani) - 8:20 AM - Medal event
Men coxless pair Final A (Babu Lal Yadav, Lekh Ram) - 8:40 AM - Medal event
Men's coxed eight Final A (Charanjeet Singh, DU Pande, Naresh Kalwaniya, Neeraj, Neetesh Kumar, Ashish, Bheem Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Punit Kumar) - 9:00 AM - Medal event
Sailing
Qualifying races in multiple categories (multiple athletes) - 8:30 AM onwards
Shooting
Women's 10m air rifle qualification, individual final and team final (Ashi Chouksey, Mehuli Ghosh, Ramita) - 6:00 AM onwards - Medal event
Men's 25m rapid fire pistol qualification phase 1 (Anish, Vijayveer Sidhu, Adarsh Singh) - 6:30 AM onwards
Swimming
Men's 100m freestyle heats and final (Anand AS, Tanish George Matthew) - 7:30 AM onwards
Men's 100m backstroke heats and final (Sriharni Nataraj, Utkarsh Santosh Patil) - 7:30 AM onwards
Women's 4x100m freestyle relay heats and final (Janhvi Choudhary, Dhinidhi Desinghu, Maana Patel, Shivangi Sarma) - 7:30 AM onwards
Tennis
Men's doubles round 1: India 2 vs Nepal 1 - 9:30 AM onwards
Men's singles round 1: Sumit Nagal (IND) vs Marco Ho Tin Leung (MAC) - 9:30 AM onwards
Table Tennis
Women's team round of 16: India vs Thailand - 7:30 AM
Men's team round of 16: India vs Kazakhstan - 9:30 AM
Volleyball
Men's classification 1st-6th: India vs Japan - 12:00 PM
Wushu
Men's changquan final (Anjul Namdeo, Suraj Singh Mayanglambam) - 6:30 AM
Men's 56kg 1/8 final: Sunil Singh Mayanglambam (IND) vs Arnel Mandal (PHI) - 5:00 PM onwards - Medal event
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