India's team wait during the penalty shootout at their men's hockey semi-final match against Malaysia | Photo Credit: AP New Delhi: An India versus Pakistan match is always a favoured contest in the game of hockey in the subcontinent. And Asian Games will witness the high-voltage rivalry for the second straight edition, but sadly not for the elusive gold. Fate has struck badly on the two subcontinental giants, leaving India to take on Pakistan in Jakarta on Saturday for a first-ever bronze-medal match in the quadrennial event. It was a pure touch of a bitter defeat for Team India in the semifinal round earlier this week against Malaysia. Before the semis, India were on a high with 76 goals in five matches in the pool stages which included their biggest win ever in history - 26-0 against Hong Kong. The defending champions of the Asiad gold were looking in absolute indomitable shape in Jakarta. However, their exhilarating run to yet another gold clinch was restricted by a 6-7 sudden death defeat to Malaysia. "We committed errors, and it was not because the opponent forced us into those; these were unforced errors," coach Harendra Singh said. "It's unpardonable, a suicide." Not only did India fail to qualify for the finals, their road to Tokyo 2022 Olympics has become tougher than ever. Above all, they are also not part of the Hockey Pro League. Interestingly, Pakistan too suffered a similar fate like India, the unfortunate one. Scoring 45 goals in the pool stages, conceding just one against Malaysia, Pakistan were all set for the summit clash. However, the Japanese were rock-solid with their defense, while Shota Yamada provided them with a nervy 1-0 lead off a penalty corner as Pakistan lost the semifinal 0-1, leaving the Men in Green up against Team India for the bronze medal match. Also, for Pakistan, the road to next Olympics is a less worrisome for them being part of the Pro League. The two arch rivals have faced each other in Asian Games final for nine times, but never before for the third-place finish. In fact, their Incheon encounter in 2014 was their first in 24 years and India survived through a nail-biting shootout to be crowned champions after a gap of 16 years. The two recently faced off at the Hockey Champions Trophy 2018, where Ramandeep Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh and Lalit Upadhyay scored in India's 4-0 win over Pakistan.<doc-sep>Asian Games 2018, Day 14 Live Updates: As the 2018 Asiad enters the homestretch, you can catch all the live action of Day 14 here Auto refresh feeds With just two days of action left at the 2018 Asian Games, India are 8th in the standings with 65 medals. They have more medals than Iran (58), Chinese Taipei (60) and Uzbekistan (59), but these three teams have more gold medals which put them above India. India’s mixed team of Harshdeep Singh Brar, Vijay Kumar Yadav, Kalpana Devi, Garima Choudhary and Rajwinder Kaur have made it to the last-8 after breezing past Nepal 4-1. India now face Kazakhstan in the quarters. Having won their opener against Nepal, the Indian mixed judo team has crashed out of the Asian Games after losing to Kazakhstan in the quarter-final. For India, Vijay Yadav, Harshdeep Brar, Kalpana Devi and Garima Choudhary all lost their encounters. India’s 60-year-old bridge player Pranab Bardhan and 56-year-old Shibhnath Sarkar are on top after six rounds in Final 1 of the men’s pair bridge event. There’s still another Final left, but this is looking promising. The first two rounds have seen Amit Panghal dominating the fight. He's had the Uzbek Olympic champion Hasanboy in some trouble with his fearless boxing. That open stance of the southpaw from India has been effective. Preferring to stay on the outside of the ring, Panghal had a more defensive third round. Uzbekistan’s Hasanboy Dusmatov is the Olympic champion, but he seemed to be rattled by what has transpired in the first two rounds. Amit Panghal has won the fight of his life, beating Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov in the final of the 49kg weight class. He’s edged this bout by a split decision of 3-2. But that doesn’t matter! It’s a gold medal in the boxing ring for India. Even as boxer Amit Panghal was clinching gold in the boxing ring, 60-year-old Pranab Bardhan and 56-year-old Shibhnath Sarkar earned the country another gold in the men's bridge pair event! India have 67 medals, including 15 golds. That is the country's best-ever performance at the Asiad! India are currently trailing 0-1 against Hong Kong after losing the first set in the final of the women's team squash event. Should India win, they will have their best-ever gold medal haul at the Asian Games. Silver medal for India India women's squash team clinch the silver medal after losing to Hong Kong 2-0 in the final. GOAL! Lalit gives it to Akashdeep whose flick goes high into the Pakistan goal. India lead 1-0. India get their 1st PC in the 4th quarter. Harmanpreet Singh sinks the 2nd goal. Low, fast flick. GOAL!!! INDIA LEAD 2-0. Turn-over gives Pakistan their first goal. GOAL! ATIQ CUTS THE MARGIN. IT’S 2-1. This game has come to life in the fourth quarter INDIA HAVE THE BRONZE. THEY HAVE BEATEN PAKISTAN 2-1. That brings us to the end of India's Asian Games campaign, the most successful one till date in terms of medals won, and joint best in terms of gold medals won. India end the Games with a total of 69 medals and 15 golds and are likely to finish in the eighth spot in the medal's tally. India giving away turn-overs but then converts a Pakistan attack into a counter; speedy move from India but Pakistan is defending well. Three minutes left in the 3rd quarter. India leading 1-0. That’s the end of the 3rd quarter. Only 15 minutes left for Pakistan to find an equaliser or India to increase their lead. But the quarter belongs to Pakistan as they defended well and forced the Indian midfield to yield space. India will need to bring Manpreet through the middle as Pakistan is defending the runs into their flanks. India get their 1st PC in the 4th quarter. Harmanpreet Singh sinks the 2nd goal. Low, fast flick. GOAL!!! INDIA LEAD 2-0. Turn-over gives Pakistan their first goal. GOAL! ATIQ CUTS THE MARGIN. IT’S 2-1. This game has come to life in the fourth quarter India gets their 2nd PC. Akashdeep slips it onto the defenders feet. But Rupinder’s flick is wide. It’s still 2-1 for India. Below 3 minutes for India. Sardar hits, Chinglensana deflects it as Pakistan goalkeeper saves brilliantly. Pakistan have pulled off the GK. INDIA HAVE THE BRONZE. THEY HAVE BEATEN PAKISTAN 2-1. India win the bronze🥉 medal! The Indian men's hockey team sees off a determined Pakistan side, winning 2-1! Akashdeep Singh and Harmanpreet Singh scored India's two goals. #Hockey 🏑 Check our #AsianGames2018 LIVEBLOG: https://t.co/WYY41fMdf0 pic.twitter.com/RM3igha8Dz This is India's third bronze medal at Asian Games. For Pakistan this is only the fourth time they have had to settle for a silver medal That brings us to the end of India's Asian Games campaign, the most successful one till date in terms of medals won, and joint best in terms of gold medals won. India end the Games with a total of 69 medals and 15 golds and are likely to finish in the eighth spot in the medal's tally. That's all from our coverage of Asian Games. Thank you for following Firstpost. It was a pleasure bringing you the coverage of the Games. We would like to thank our corespondents Snehal Pradhan, G Rajaraman, Sundeep Misra and V Krishnaswamy for their precious inputs from Jakarta. Asian Games 2018, Day 14 latest update: Amit Panghal has won the fight of his life, beating Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov in the final of the 49kg weight class. He’s edged this bout by a split decision of 3-2. But that doesn’t matter! It’s a gold medal in the boxing ring for India. Preferring to stay on the outside of the ring, Panghal had a more defensive third round. Uzbekistan’s Hasanboy Dusmatov is the Olympic champion, but he seemed to be rattled by what has transpired in the first two rounds. Day 13 report: A golden dream unfulfilled for over 30 years remained just that in women's hockey but India equalled its best ever medal haul as sailors joined the assorted contributors to the country's tally at the 18th Asian Games on Friday. On the penultimate day of competitions, the euphoria of track-and-field gold rush was far over but the momentum was certainly retained with a silver and a couple of bronze coming in from the sailing events. The women's hockey team, however, endured a heartbreak, albeit not as big as the men. They lost to Japan 1-2 in the final despite being favourites for gold. But it was still a step up from the bronze that came in the 2014 edition. The men will square off against Pakistan on Saturday for a bronze. The Indian position in the overall tally was a steady eighth with 65 medals, which is the same as 2010 – the country's best ever Asiad show. The haul includes 13 gold, 23 silver and 29 bronze medals. The highlight of the day was the sailing performance, India's best showing. Varsha Gautham and Sweta Shervegar claimed silver in 49er FX event while two men combined to overcome disqualification in their previous race to grab a bronze. Thanks to their showing, the country enjoyed its best result since 1982. In 1982, India won a gold in fireball, a silver in enterprise and a bronze in wind-glider. For Varsha, it was her second Asiad medal as she had won a bronze in 29er with Aishwarya Nedunchezhiyan in the 2014 edition. Varsha and Sweta were not chosen by the federation to represent India and only after a court battle did they reach the Indonesian capital. At the helm of her 49erFX, 20-year-old Varsha and her crew partner Sweta, completed the 15-race event with 40 net points to finish second behind winners from Singapore, who had just 14 net points. Sailors are given points after each race, and the pair, which gets the least points, is declared the winner. "These were stressful three months. But everything has paid off. There were a lot of up and down. A lot happened. At least 10 times I thought, it's not worth it, I can't handle it but somehow I continued. It was certainly not a glamorous race, there was pressure," Varsha said. Varun Thakkar Ashok and Chengappa Ganapathy Kelapanda won bronze with a total of 53 after race 15 in the 49er men's event. The Indian women's hockey team, however, failed to break its 36-year-old gold jinx. The loss will hurt the Indians badly as a gold here would have guaranteed a direct qualification in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Minami Shimizu and Motomori Kawamura scored for Japan through penalty corners in the 11th an 44th minute while Neha Goyal's field goal in the 25th minute was the lone strike for India, who were aiming to win their first Asiad gold since 1982. The Indians had qualified for the final of the Asian Games after a gap of 20 years gap, having beaten China in the semifinals. There was plenty to celebrate in the squash competition. Joshna Chinappa upstaged eight-time world champion Nicol David as the Indian women's squash team outplayed defending champions Malaysia 2-0 to enter its second successive Asian Games final. The Indian men, who also entered the mega-event as defending champions, settled for bronze after a 0-2 loss to Hong Kong in the semifinals. Saurav Ghosal, who was not fully fit, and Harinder Pal Sandhu, lost to Max Lee and Leo Au, 0-3 and 1-3 respectively. The loss came after the women's team blanked the David-led Malaysia in the semifinals. The team, comprising Joshna, Dipika Pallikal Karthik and Sunayna Kuruvilla, is now assured of at least a silver. In the boxing ring, it was day of mixed results and emotions. Debutant Amit Panghal (49kg) continued his sensational run to make the final with a hard-fought win but an injured Vikas Krishan (75kg) had to settle for bronze after being declared medically unfit for his semifinal. Amit was the lone Indian boxer to make the final in the ongoing edition, beating Philippines' Carlo Paalam in a 3-2 verdict. The 22-year-old Armyman, who won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year, will be up against reigning Olympic champion and world championships silver-medallist Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan in the summit clash tomorrow. Amit's draining victory made up, to an extent, for the disappointment of Vikas being forced to withdraw from his last-four bout owing to a cut on his eyelid sustained in the pre-quarters. The 26-year-old was to take on Kazakhstan's Amankul Abilkhan this evening. "There is inflammation in retina as well and it is too risky to let him fight. He will have to take a break for a few weeks," an official of the contingent told PTI. India's sensational run in the table tennis event came to an end after Sharath Kamal, G Sathiyan and Manika Batra lost in the pre-quarterfinals of the singles competition. World number 33 Sharath Kamal went down fighting against 14th ranked Chih-Yuan Chunag of Chinese Taipei 7-11, 11-9, 10-12, 16-14, 9-11. Sathiyan, who led India to a maiden medal in 60 years with his two wins against Japan in the team event, was not to able to do an encore against Kenta Matsudaira. He lost 11-9, 4-11, 9-11, 6-11, 10-12 in another round of 16 match. Rising star Manika Batra won a game against world number five Wang Manyu but it was not enough to trouble the Chinese. She lost 2-11, 8-11, 8-11, 11-6, 4-11 in the women's singles round of 16. There was no respite from losses in judo and volleyball.<doc-sep>
A narrow, nervy 2-1 win that could have easily gone the other way salvaged some pride for the Indian men’s team as it edged past archrivals Pakistan to claim the bronze medal at the Asian Games here on Saturday. The bronze medal was small consolation for World No 5 India who were the overwhelming favourite to defend the gold medal they had won four years ago in Incheon. The Indian team, which has been unbeaten in nine matches against their archrivals, showed some nerves as it came out for the bronze medal match, in which it had to survive some nerve-wrecking moments in the fourth and last quarter. For India, Akashdeep Singh and Harmanpreet Singh scored a goal each, whereas Muhammad Atiq reduced the margin for Pakistan. The match did not follow script one anticipates in a contest between a team ranked 5th in the world and another languishing at 13th as India were at the receiving end, especially in the dying minutes with Pakistan mounting an all-out attack. Even otherwise, the Pakistanis had more ball possession, at least in the second quarter, when they created a few chances only to fritter them away. Overall, Pakistan earned four penalty corners as against India’s two. The Indians, who had won their last encounter 4-0 at the Champions Trophy, seemed to have learned little from their shocking defeat to Malaysia in the semi-final. They made the same mistakes and the players, including veteran Sardar Singh and SV Sunil, were poor in passing, which gave Pakistan lot of chances. India started on a bright note and grabbed an early lead when Akashdeep Singh scooped the ball past Pakistani goalkeeper Imran Butt into the top right corner in the third minute. However, a counter-attack soon after saw India almost losing the advantage when Safqat Rasool’s reverse hit from the left flank hit the post and rebounded into play. The Indians in panic started committing more errors, failing to trap routine long balls but somehow managed to keep the Pakistanis at bay. India got their first penalty in the 50th minute and Harmanpreet Singh made it count by sounding the board with a powerful grounder. But within two minutes, the smiles were back on the Pakistani faces as Muhammad Atiq scored a fantastic field goal. Meanwhile, India failed to capitalize on the second penalty corner when Rupinderpal Singh’s shot was far away from the post in the very next minute. India survived some anxious moments in the last eight minutes of the match as Pakistan threw everything at them but could not score. “This wasn’t the medal for which we came here. But something is better than nothing and we are happy that we are not going back home empty handed. We fought each and every moment of the game for this,” said coach Harendra Singh.