Saina Nehwal ends India’s 36-year drought in 36 minutes with Asian Games bronze

Jakarta/Palembang: Top Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal won a bronze medal after going down to world number one Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women's singles semifinals of the 18th Asian Games, here today. World number 10 and Olympic medalist Saina played with good intensity but lost 17-21 14-21 to a superior Tzu Ying, who stood out with her court coverage and retrieving in the 36-minute match. Coming into this match, Saina had lost her last nine matches against Tzu Ying, including three in the 2018 season. Both Saina and PV Sindhu were assured of at least bronze medals after progressing to the semifinals. No Gold but lot of Silver linings in track-and-field Hima Das shone the brightest with a brand new record to her name, Muhammed Anas did enough to hold on to his status of a regional force and Dutee Chand won another battle of relevance on a jinx-breaking day for India at the Asian Games. It was a day yesterday when India counted the silvers, a total of five, even though there was no gold in the tally. The country took the ninth spot in the overall standings with 36 to its credit, including seven gold, 10 silver and 19 bronze medals. The 18-year-old Hima shattered the 400m national record for a second time in two days for her silver while Anas grabbed the second place in the same event for men today. Dutee, for long haunted by the gender dispute case that she eventually won, dug her heels for a silver in the women's 100m in a remarkable photo-finish.