Asian Games 2023: Updated medal tally after Day 8, 1st October

Mixed results in Badminton and a glorious athletics day at the Asian Games.

In a day filled with highs and lows for India at the Asian Games 2023, the badminton finals saw a setback as HS Prannoy had to withdraw from the finale due to a sudden back injury. Mithun Manjunath stepped in as his replacement to face China's Weng Hongyang.

The Indian team began strongly, winning the first three matches with relative ease. Lakshya Sen's impressive performance in the opening match saw him defeat Shi Yuqi with a scoreline of 22-20, 14-21, 21-18. The doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy secured a victory over Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang with a score of 21-15, 21-18.

However, India faced a setback when Srikanth Kidami lost the third rubber to Li Shifeng, leading to the necessity of a second doubles match. Unfortunately, the duo of Sai Pratheek Krishnaprasad and Dhruv Kapila couldn't secure a win, losing to Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi with a score of 6-21, 15-21.

The absence of HS Prannoy proved costly for India, as Mithun Manjunath could not overcome Weng Hongyang, resulting in China winning the deciding match with a score of 12-21, 6-21. China claimed the gold, leaving India with a silver medal.

On the brighter side, India shone in athletics, securing gold in both the men's shot put and men's 3000m steeplechase finals. Avinash Sable's remarkable performance in the 3000m steeplechase, with a record-breaking time of 8:19:50s, secured India's 12th gold at the 2023 Asian Games.

Tajinderpal Singh Toor clinched another gold for India in the shot put with a throw of 20.36m, securing the lead in his final attempt.

India's third medal in athletics came in the form of silver, as long-jumper Shreeshankar achieved a distance of 8.19m, denying the Chinese a 1-2 podium finish.

Asian Games 2023: Updated medal tally after Day 8, 1st October

As of Day 8, China continues to dominate the medal tally with an impressive total of 243 medals, including 132 golds. South Korea has moved up to the second spot with 125 medals overall, including 30 golds, while Japan closely follows with 112 medals, including 29 golds.

India's strong performance in athletics and other events has brought their total medal count to 53, including 13 golds, maintaining their position at fourth on the medal table. Among India's tally are 21 silver and 19 bronze medals.

Uzbekistan, Thailand, and Taiwan occupy the fifth, sixth, and seventh positions, respectively. Uzbekistan has 40 medals with 11 golds, Thailand has 30 medals with 10 golds, and Taiwan has 33 medals with 9 golds.

The Asian Games continue to showcase thrilling competition and moments of glory for athletes from across the continent.