India women's cricket team made its debut in the Asian Games as they faced Malaysia in the quarterfinal clash on Thursday, September 21. India scored a total of 173 for 2 in 15 overs in a rain-hit game at Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field but the match was abandoned due to heavy rain in the second innings and so India progressed to the semifinal round due to better seeding.
The young opener Shafali Verma smashed 67 runs off 39 balls and Jemimah Rodrigues 47 runs off 29 balls to help India to 173 runs in just 15 overs. But the rain interrupted a game when Malaysia arrived to bat in the second innings. India will next face a winner between Sri Lanka and Thailand in the semifinal match on Sunday.
In football events, the men's team bounced back from their heavy defeat against China and pulled off a deserving 1-0 win over Bangladesh to keep their hopes for the knockout stages alive. Star forward and team captain Sunil Chhetri scored a late penalty goal as India had to sweat out their best efforts to overcome challenge from Bangladesh.
The women's team started their campaign with a 1-2 defeat against Chinese Taipei after taking a lead in the game through Anju Tamang's goal. It was an impressive performance from the Indian team against a much stronger and higher-ranked Chinese Taipei side but late goals from Lai Li-Chin and Su Yu-Hsuan snatched deserving points from the Ashalatha Devi-led team.
In rowing, Indian athletes produced another impressive performance as they secured finals for three more events, making it eight events in the first two days. India's experienced athlete Vishnu Saravanan shone in Sailings as he won his first race in the Men's Dinghy - ILCA7 event and finished fifth in the second race. In the Women's Skiff 49erFX event, Harshita Tomar and Sheetal Varma finished third among six pairs in the only positive outcome for India in Sailings on Thursday.
