Asian Games Archery: India make quarters in all six team events
Hangzhou (PTI): Indian archers showed tenacity and authority in equal measure to storm into the quarterfinals in all the six team events of the Asian Games here on Monday.
The Indians played five team elimination rounds and dropped just one set on the way to their respective quarterfinal matches.
India have got a bye into the quarters by virtue of topping the qualifications in the women's compound team event.
First, it was the top-seeded compound mixed team of Ojas Deotale and Jyothi Surekha Vennam, who showed the way as they dropped just one point from 16 arrows to eliminate UAE's Amna Alawadhi and Mohammed Binamro 159-151.
The duo will take on formidable Malaysia (No 8 seed) in the quarters, and thereafter, they should have an easy draw till the final.
Then, the Indian recurve mixed pair duo of Atanu Das and Ankita Bhakat were at their resilient best and overcome a first-set deficit to defeat Malayasia in a three-setter.
The fifth seeded Indian duo of Das and Ankita rallied to beat Malaysian team of Syaqiera Binti Mashayikh and Muhamad Zarif Syahir Bin Zolkepeli 6-2 (39-38, 37-36, 39-33).
The Malaysia pair enjoyed a 2-0 lead with three 10s including one X in the first set. But, the experienced Indian duo bounced back with two 10s and went on to draw level, as the Malaysians crumbled under pressure.
The Malaysians hit the red-ring (8) once and went on to lose the second by a slender one-point margin.
There was more misery in store for the Malaysians who shot into the red ring thrice (8-8-8), while Das-Ankita drilled in three perfect 10s en route to a six-point win in the third set.
The Indian pair sealed the issue with three more 10s in the fourth set and set up a last-eight clash against the fourth-seeded Indonesians.
Should they overcome the Indonesian challenge, the Indians may run into the top-seeded Koreans in a potential semifinal clash in the Olympic-qualifying event.
There are six quota spots available from the Asian Games -- the recurve mixed team winners and two archers ranked high in the individual events.
In compound men's team event, the second-seeded Indians trio of Ojas, Abhishek Verma and Prathamesh Jawkar thrashed 15th seed Singapore (Woon Teng NG, Lee Chung Hee Alan, Jun Hui Goh) 235-219.
The Indian triumvirate had a cautious start and had four 10s to take a 58-55 lead.
But the Indians came on their own from second end onwards and dropped just three points to rout their rivals by a 16-point margin.
The compound men's team is pitted against lower-ranked Bhutan in the quarters and will likely face the third seeded Chinese Taipei in the semifinals.
The top-seeded Indian women's compound team of Jyothi, Aditi Swami and Parneet Kaur, who got a bye into the quarters, will open its campaign against ninth-seeded Hong Kong, who ousted Bangladesh 225-218.
The Indian men's recurve team of Das, Dhiraj and Tushar Shelke beat Hong Kong's Kwok Yin Chai, Law Kwun Pok Lucien and Wn Chun Kit 6-0 (58-47, 57-49, 57-55) in a lopsided contest.
The third-seeded Indians, who face lower-ranked Mongolia (No 11) in the last-eight, have an easy draw till the final, with Korea and Japan in the top half.
The unfancied women's recurve team of Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur and Simranjeet Kaur also shone through, ousting 12th seeded Thailand.
The fifth-seeded Indians won 5-1 (49-47, 54-54, 55-54) and are pitted against fourth-seeded Japan in a tough quarterfinal match-up.
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Bomb threats to Delhi Secretariat, Assembly, Red Fort and two schools declared hoax
New Delhi (PTI): Multiple institutions, including the Delhi Secretariat, Delhi Assembly, Red Fort and two schools in the national capital, received bomb threats via email on Monday, which were later declared hoax, officials said.
An official of the Delhi Fire Services confirmed that Delhi Secretariat, Delhi Army Public School in Dhaula Kuan and Air Force Bal Bharti School on Lodhi Road received bomb threats.
The threat emails were also received on the official ID of the Delhi Assembly and its Speaker at 8 am, reportedly from the Khalistan National Army, sources said.
Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta asked the Delhi Police for immediate appropriate action on the bomb threat received on his personal email id.
"The Speaker, Delhi Legislative Assembly has desired that immediate necessary appropriate action be taken in the matter and an investigation be carried out to trace the source of these emails keeping in view the serious warnings about the bomb blast threats to Delhi Legislative Assembly Secretariat and Speaker in person," the Speaker office in a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner said.
The threatening emails mention “Delhi banega Khalistan” (Delhi will become Khalistan) and read that there will be blasts in Delhi Army School, Red Fort and Metros in the next three days.
The emails claimed a blast at the Delhi Army school at 1.11 pm, Vidhan Sabha at 3.11 pm and Red Fort at 9.11 am today, they said.
After receiving the threatening emails, the administrations of both schools informed authorities in the morning, a senior police officer said.
As a precautionary measure, the premises were evacuated, and thorough search operations were carried out, the officer said.
"After nothing suspicious was found, it was declared a hoax," the officer added.
An Aam Aadmi Party leader and former MLA, Dilip K Pandey, in a post on X said, "Today, I received a bomb threat on my personal email ID, and since the matter was related to public safety, I have immediately forwarded the email to Delhi Police."
Upon receiving the information, teams from the Delhi Police, the bomb disposal squad, dog squad and Delhi Fire Services rushed to the spots and cordoned off the areas around the schools and other locations.
"We are verifying the source of the emails and further investigation is underway," the officer added.
The cyber cell has been roped in to trace the origin of the emails and identify the sender. Search operations are continuing.
