INCHEON, Sept 27 (PTI): The men�s squash and archery teams secured historic gold medals as India enjoyed their most productive day in the 17th Asian Games so far with an impressive collection of 11 medals to jump to the 11th position in the overall standings on the eighth day of competitions here today.
Young archer Abhishek Verma was hero of the day as he combined with Rajat Chauhan and Sandeep Kumar to clinch the gold medal in the compound team event before picking up the individual silver medal at the Gyeyang Asiad Archery Field.
Abhishek�s heroics was followed by men�s squash team led by Saurav Ghosal which claimed the coveted gold medal in the team event while the women�s team of Dipika Pallikal, Anaka Alankamony and Joshana Chinappa also excelled by clinching the silver medal.
Athlete Lalit Babar won a silver in women�s 3000 m steeple chase, while shooter Chain Singh (50m rifle 3 position), archer Trisha Deb (women�s compound individual), grappler Vinesh Phogat (women�s 48kg), Geetika Jakhar (women�s 63kg) and athlete Sudha Singh (women�s 3000m steeplechase), women�s compound team � comprising Trisha, Purvasha Shende and Jyothi Surekha Vennam � were the bronze medal winners on what turned out to be India�s best day at the Games.
With the addition of 11 more medals, India, overnight placed 16th, rose to the 11th position on the table with three gold, five silver and 20 bronze medals. India were also assured of at least five bronze medals in tennis event by reaching the semifinals.
While the archers and squash players stole the limelight with their medal-winning heroics, the Indian boxers also moved to the quarterfinals with easy victories over their opponents.
Women grapplers Vinesh and Geetika bagged a bronze medal each in 48kg and 63kg freestyle events respectively as India made an impressive start in their wrestling campaign.
Geetika produced an even more dominant performance in her bronze-medal bout against Vietnam�s Ly Thi Hien as she pinned down her opponent in just 55 seconds in a victory by fall verdict.
Lalita bagged a silver in women�s 3000m steeplechase with a personal best timing of 9:35.37 while defending champion Sudha Singh clinched bronze.
However, the spotlight belonged to the archers, who scripted history with their maiden compound gold medal by shocking favourites South Korea.
The women�s trio had set the tone in the morning by clinching the compound team bronze by defeating Iran in the play-off for the third position at the Gyeyang Asiad Archery Field. Later, Trisha bagged a bronze in the individual event.
India defied odds to shock world archery powerhouse Korea 227-225 in the gold medal clash.
Rajat, Sandeep and Abhishek worked wonderfully well in unison to lead their formidable hosts � the world silver medallists � right through the 24-arrow finals to emerge triumphant by two points (227-225) in the non-Olympic Compound event which has made its debut here.
This was the second medal of the day from the venue, and came just one hour after the young Indian women�s trio of Trisha Deb, Purvasha Shende and Jyothi Surekha Vennam clinched the bronze medal by winning the play-off against Iran 224-217.
In shooting, Chain Singh stole the thunder from the more fancied Gagan Narang and Sanjeev Rajput in the 50m rifle 3 position competition.
There was good news from the boxing ring as Olympic bronze-medallist MC Mary Kom set her campaign rolling in style by out-punching Korea�s Kim Yeji to enter the quarterfinals along with two other Indian women boxers.
L Sarita Devi (60kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg) were the two others, who advanced to the last eight making it an all-win day for the Indian women pugilists.
In tennis, Yuki Bhambri made it to the semifinals of the men�s singles event, while India�s doubles pair of Saketh Myneni and Sanam Singh, Yuki and Divij Sharan, women�s doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Prarthana Thombare and lone mixed doubles pair of Sania and Saketh have all entered the last four rounds in their respective events.
