Indian women's team poses after the medals ceremony. (AFP Photo) JAKARTA: The Indian women's hockey team failed to break its 36-year-old gold jinx after losing to Japan 1-2 in a keenly contested summit clash to settle for the silver medal at the 18th Asian Games here on Friday.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 and 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, having beaten China in the semi-finals.Ahead of the Olympics, Japanese hockey is on the right track with the women winning their maiden Asian Games title after finishing runners-up thrice.For Indian hockey, there was more disappointment after the fancied men's team failed to defend its gold following their loss to Malaysia in the semi-finals on Thursday.Coming into the match, the Indians were favourites to win the title as they are ranked five places above Japan at ninth in the world rankings.In the first quarter, India made more forays into the opposition circle but lacked the finishing touch. Their first big opportunity came in fourth minute when Navneet Kaur could not do much with captain Rani Rampal's pass into the striking zone.Japan had their opportunity too in the eighth minute but Indian goalkeeper Savita made a good save.Navneet then helped India get their first penalty corner in the 10th minute but dragflicker Gurjit Kaur could not get it past the Japanese goalkeeper.Another Japanese counter attack followed which resulted in their first penalty corner, which was clinically converted by Shimizu in the 11th minute.Down by a goal, India kept attacking but with little precision.Sensing urgency, India pressed hard for the equaliser in the second quarter. They came close when Sunita Lakra provided a finely placed pass to Udita but she could not make it count.India drew level in the 25th minute when Navneet Kaur's crisp reverse hit was neatly deflected in by a patiently waiting Neha.India were the better team in the second quarter, creating more chances and had the ball a lot more than the Japanese.In the 36th minute, a skilful one-two from Vandana Katariya and Navjot Kaur almost got India the lead but Udita's shot was saved by the Japanese keeper.Seconds later, another opportunity was missed when Vandana's attempt was parried away by the custodian.The Japanese got their first major opportunity of the third quarter when they earned a penalty corner in the 44th minute and Motomi executed a delightful finish, taking the ball on the left and firing it in with a reverse hit.The Indian fans, who turned up in sizeable number, were left shell shocked with the Japanese goal.The Indian women, like their male counterparts in the semi-finals yesterday, were guilty of holding on to the ball for far too long while the Japanese operated with quick passes.With less than 10 minutes remaining on the clock, the Indian shirts were a constant in the opposition circle but they could not find the back of the net.With a goal lead and end drawing closer, the Japanese expectedly slowed the game down when once they reached the Indian half.India withdrew their goalkeeper Savita with two minutes remaining as India desperately pushed for an equaliser.They even got two chances with 40 seconds left on the clock but failed to find the Japanese net.<doc-sep>Asian Games 2018, Day 13 LIVE Updates: With India having won 59 medals in 12 days, Friday will represent an opportunity to go past their best-ever tally of 65 medals at an Asiad. Catch all the action from Jakarta and Palembang on our liveblog Auto refresh feeds With 59 medals in 12 days, India are 8th in the standings. 19 of those medals have come in track and field events. In contrast, India's medals have come only through 15 disciplines. Japan, with 174 medals, also relied heavily on their swimmers. Swimming brought Japan 52 medals, while 34 other disciplines have earned the remaining medals. China's 241 medals come from 36 disciplines. Interestingly, a whopping 50 medals (just over one-fifth) come just from swimming. How China and Japan have made a splash at the Asian Games India’s Ragina Kiro finishes sixth and last in her women’s kayak single (K1) 200m heat, which cements her place into the semi-finals. The top three from two heats enter A-final medal round. India's women's team finishes at the bottom, in tenth place after losing 21-25, 16-25, 15-25 to the Chinese Taipei. Tough luck, girls! India’s Rajwinder Kaur loses her repechage round fight to Chinese Taipei’s Jiawen Tsai. An ippon point for her opponent. Sharath Kamal saves six game points to bag the fourth game 16-14. The scores are level now at 2-2. What a thriller! Sharath Kamal has lost his Round of 16 match and is out of the competition However, the Chinese paddler clawed back by winning the next three points. Manika wins the fourth game 11-6. Having dropped the first three games, Manika was just one game away from elimination. But she came into the fourth game with sensational form, reeling off the first seven points. Wang Manyu wins the fifth game 11-4 and registers a 4-1 win over Manika Batra to enter the quarter-finals. The World No 5 Wang proved to be a handful for Manika. The Chinese paddler wins 11-2, 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-4. The Indian women’s squash team has steamrolled its way into the final! After Joshna Chinappa stunned Nicol David, the four-woman Indian team won their second tie too. Their opponents in the summit clash will be whoever wins the second semi-final between Hong Kong and Japan. India have won a bronze medal in boxing today, thanks to Vikas Krishan. The medal though comes under unfortunate circumstances. According to PTI, the boxer was declared medically unfit to fight his semi-final bout due to a cut on his left eyelid sustained earlier in the event. Sathiyan holds his nerve to take the first game 11-9 against the Japanese paddler. After Sharath Kamal’s ouster earlier in the day, Sathiyan is the lone representative of the country in the men’s single event. He’s currently in action against World No 19 Kenta Matsudiara in the Round of 16. Locked at 6-6, Matsudaira takes five points in a row to claim the fourth game 11-6. The Japanese paddler extends his lead 3-1 over Sathiyan. India's challenge in the men's singles competition in table tennis is one game away from ending. A neck-and-neck fifth game turns in favour of Matsudiara who edges past Sathiyan 12-10. It's all over for the Indian paddler after he lost the last-16 match in five games – 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-6, 12-10. And that’s the end of the third quarter. GOAL! Brilliant reverse by Motomi Kawamura. Beat the goalkeeper and Monika on the line. Japan lead 2-1. Japan’s second penalty corner with a minute left in the third quarter. Less than eight minutes left in the match; India down 1-2. Too many turnovers happening for India to make a concentrated move on the Japanese striking circle. India needs to get a goal now before Japan close down the match. Less than two minutes left as Japan hold onto the ball. Not giving it away as India desperately search for a move upwards. The Japanese too good in possession. It’s 2-1 to Japan. The match moving away from India. India has asked for a referral; looking for a PC. 39.4 seconds left. No PC. And Japan has won the Gold. They are the champions. India played well. But the turnovers in the third and fourth quarter cost them the midfield dominance. Japan played a brilliant defensive structure; Mayumi Ono keeping the side together. This women’s side has grown and promises much in the future. Two more rounds left and he will look to improve his final ranking. India's Ramananda Sharma is at the last spot after four rounds in Men's 3m Springboard We will be back tomorrow with all the updates. See you then, good bye! That's all we have for today. A gold in women's hockey would've been perfect but it was not meant to be. India also clinched medals in sailing while boxer Amit Panghal will fight for gold on Friday. Indian men's hockey team are also in action as they play arch-rivals Pakistan in the bronze medal match. Asian Games 2018, Day 13 latest update: Time for third quarter. India will look to take the lead in the match. Day 12 report: There was no stopping the gold rush from track-and-field as India exceeded all expectations for its best Asian Games performance in close to seven decades but heartbreak in hockey took some sheen off the country's sprint past the previous edition's medal haul on Thursday. The seasoned Jinson Johnson and the women's 4x400m relay team were the joint stars with their golden show on the final day of the track-and-field competition in which India signed off seven gold, 10 silver and two bronze medals, the country's best haul since 1951. India surpassed its previous edition's overall tally of 57 by making it 59 with two more days of competition left. The country also took its gold tally to 13, two more than 2014. Johnson, who surprisingly lost the gold to compatriot Manjit Singh in the 800m, more than made up for that blip with a brilliant rally on Thursday.<doc-sep>READ ALSO: NEW DELHI: Fifteen titles of men's hockey at the Asian Games before 2018 were shared between three teams: Pakistan (8), South Korea (4) and India (3). None of them made the final in Jakarta . It has to be considered good for the health of hockey in the continent. But for defending champions India, who have leaped far ahead of the rest in Asia, not playing the gold-medal match is nothing short of a disaster.The 6-7 sudden-death defeat to Malaysia in the semi-final was like somebody putting a dagger in the heart and then twisting it. Heads hanging, players down on knees - the pain was visibly excruciating. But it was a result of India's own folly.None could explain it better, and in depth, than coach Harendra Singh. "We committed errors, and it was not because the opponent forced us into those; these were unforced errors," the coach said. "It's unpardonable, a suicide. "In simpler terms, India panicked when they had victory in sight leading 2-1. At 58:13 minutes, Malaysia earned a penalty corner. Harendra explains how. "We should not have conceded the equaliser in first place," he said. "The ball was outside the circle, somebody should have stepped up, showed character and tackled it outside. If you let it in (the circle), panic can set in. "We threw our sticks (while tackling). We are just going back, going back. Should have tackled outside the circle," Harendra reiterated.At 58:19 minutes, Malaysia converted that penalty corner.The shootout began on a controversial note. A blocking foul was given against Manpreet Singh, and it appeared a harsh call. Manpreet asked for a referral but the video umpire upheld the on-field decision. India never recovered from that, mentally. "There was no blocking at all. Before the umpire blew the whistle, he should have seen where the ball was. It was at (Manpreet's) right foot, not left, and right foot is always visible to the goalkeeper," the coach explained the technicalities.India now play for bronze on Saturday against Pakistan, who were stunned by Japan 0-1 in the other semi-final. "We must go back with a medal now, even if it's a consolation. Recovery from such defeats is very important, coming out of the rooms and having team meetings. We need to pick ourselves mentally now, whatever happened was one bad dream," he sighed.India had gone to Jakarta with a target to get the Tokyo 2020 ticket by defending their gold. But now they have to go through the pain of qualification math. "It was (as continental winners) the easiest way to get the boarding card for Tokyo. We were determined to do that, but I think we paid the price for making silly errors," he admitted.The women, on the other hand, had made it to the final against Japan but finished on the wrong side of the result losing 1-2 and settled for a silver medal, which is only their second overall in Asiad and first since 1998.<doc-sep>Asian Games 2018 India vs Japan Women’s Hockey Final Highlights: India lost to Japan. (Source: File) Asian Games 2018 India vs Japan Women’s Hockey Final Highlights: India lost to Japan. (Source: File) Asian Games 2018 India vs Japan Women’s Hockey Final Highlights: India finished second best to Japan in the gold medal match of women’s hockey at the 18th Asian Games. India went down 1-2 after the two were locked at 1-1 at half time. Japan took the lead in the first quarter courtesy Shimizu before Neha Goyal drew parity in the second quarter. Motomi put Japan ahead at the close of third quarter and shut shop in the final 15 minutes to win their first Asian Games gold medal. The silver is India’s best finish since 1998 but the 36-year wait for gold continues.<doc-sep>
READ ALSO: READ ALSO: JAKARTA: 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 semi-finals.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 semi-finals. 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 semi-finals.