Suchika Tariyal assured India of its first medal at the Asian Games after defeating Altanchimeg Baigalmaa to enter the semifinals of the women’s traditional 60kg MMA (mixed martial arts) event in Nagoya on Sunday.
Baigalmaa came out aggressively in the second and final round, looking to overturn the contest, but Suchika’s defence held firm under sustained pressure.
As Baigalmaa continued to attack, Suchika produced a crucial reversal and took her opponent to the ground. She maintained control until the end of the round, doing enough to secure the victory.
With the win, Suchika advanced to the semifinal and confirmed India’s first medal of the Games.
The Indian women’s table tennis team also made a strong start to their Asian Games campaign, defeating Indonesia 3-0 in their Group F encounter.
Sreeja Akula put India ahead with a 3-1 victory over N. Maharani in the opening match. Diya Chitale then extended the lead, defeating A. Nebuchadnezzar 3-0. Yashaswini Ghorpade completed the clean sweep for India, beating C. Rasmi 3-0 in the third match.
India began their Group F campaign on a winning note.
Earlier, India’s campaign in Teqball at the Asian Games ended without a medal after the mixed doubles pair went down 0-2 to Vietnam in the bronze medal match.
Vietnam athlete prevailed 12-9, 12-6, bringing an end to India’s three medal opportunities in Teqball at the sport’s Asian Games debut.
(With inputs from ANI)