Asian Games 2026: India secure victory in semi-final against Pakistan

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In the Asian Games 2026 semi-final, the Indian men’s hockey team defeated arch-rivals Pakistan by 4-3. The match was played at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium in Kakamigahara.

With this, the Indian men’s hockey team has sealed the berth in the final of the continental event. The final of the mega event is scheduled to be played on October 3.

Initially, India was leading Pakistan by 2-0 in the first quarter of the highly anticipated match. Skipper Harmanpreet Singh found the net twice against the arch-rivals. He converted two penalty corners to give his side the ideal start in the crucial match.

Till half-time, India led the match by 3-1, with Sukhjeet Singh adding a goal to India’s tally. Soon, Pakistan’s Abu Baker registered a goal from the penalty corner to keep his team’s hopes alive.

Later, Shahid Hannan added one more goal to improve Pakistan’s tally. The Indian men, who were enjoying their solid lead of 3-0, quickly disappeared when Pakistan’s Rana Waheed registered an equaliser.

Harmanpreet-led men managed to regain the lead when Abhishek’s solid effort took a deflection off and found the net.

With this, the Indian men’s team reached the final of the Asian Games 2026. Indian men’s and women’s teams will play hockey finals at the same Asian Games for the first time since 1998.

Asian Games 2026: Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru wins bronze in men’s individual compound archery

Indian compound archer Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru produced a commanding performance to win the men’s individual bronze medal at the Asian Games here on Thursday.

Ganesh, who was a part of the gold-winning men’s team on Wednesday, defeated Vietnam’s Cong Duc Dang 149-144 in the bronze medal playoff after bowing out of individual gold contention with a semifinal loss.

It was perfect shooting from the 20-year-old Indian in the playoff as he was on mark in 14 out of his 15 shots. Ganesh had lost 144-148 to Kim Jongho of South Korea in the semifinal after he could not replicate his stupendous quarterfinal form. He trailed throughout in the last-four stage and eventually went down 29-30 29-30 29-28 29-30 28-30.

Ganesh had defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chieh-Lun Chen 148-138 in the quarterfinals earlier in the day at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square.

(With PTI Inputs)

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