Asian Games | Dipika Pallikal, Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa guarantee three medals

This betters the previous best in the singles phase in the Asian Games of two medals achieved in Incheon, four years ago when Saurav won a silver and Dipika a bronze.

As expected in terms of seeding, top seed Saurav put out his country-mate but a fighting opponent Harinder Pal Sandhu in four games 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 in the men's singles quarter-final. A little later came Dipika, the ¾ seed, with a fluent win over Japanese Kobayashi Misaki in straight games 11-5, 11-6, 11-8. Joshna's was the last scheduled among the Indians and the ¾ seeded player had a fight in hand against Hong Kong's Chan Ho Ling, seeded 5/8. Joshna won 11-5,12-10, 5-11, 12-10 and she is assured of her first medal in the Asian Games in the singles event.

Dipika Pallikal Karthik, seeded ¾ too was in fine touch and aggressive as she downed the 5/8 seed Kobayashi Misaki in straight games for a place in the semi-final and an encounter with the legend Nicol David. In the other match, Joshna started off well but Chan proved a game fighter, putting pressure on the Indian. This showed in the third game which Joshna conceded with a flurry of unforced errors. In the decider, the Indian raced to a 7-4 lead but Chan caught up. Joshna missed a match point with a shot into the tin but ensured victory over extra points to ensure a personal landmark.