India picked up the gold medal in men’s cricket on Saturday at the Asian Games after the final against Afghanistan was halted by rain.
India was the higher seeded team going into the final, and officials awarded the medal using that logic with the games closing on Sunday.
It was Afghanistan’s first silver medal at these Games after winning four bronze. It has not won a gold.
After India won the toss and bowled first, Afghanistan was 112-5 off 18.2 overs when rain forced the players from the field in Hangzhou. Persistent rain prevented any further play and the umpires called the match off.
CLOSING CEREMONY
The Asian Games close their two-week run on Sunday with three gold medals to be awarded on the final day – two in karate and one in artistic swimming.
China won a record 416 medals at the 2010 Games in Guangzhou and will not surpass that total. It had 364 medals overall through much of the play on Saturday.
China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported that Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend Sunday’s closing ceremony in Hangzhou. It cited the foreign ministry spokesperson. President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony on Sept. 23.
The 2026 Games will be held in Nagoya, Japan.
DISTANCE SWIMMING
After Saturday’s 10-kilometer distance swim, China’s Zhang Ziyang edged fellow Chinese Lan Tianchen by a mere four-tenths of a second to take gold. The winning time was 1 hour, 55 minutes, 45.8 seconds. Lan finished in 1:55.46.2. Bronze went to Park Jae-hun of South Korea.
Zhang swam in pool events, too, but failed to win a medal there.
“I performed average in the swimming pool, so I can say that this medal today is one of the biggest surprises of the Asian Games for me,” he said.
China’s Wu Shutong won gold on Friday in the women’s portion of the 10-kilometer swim.
ARCHERY
India picked up two golds on Saturday with four up for grabs. China and South Korea won the other two.
India’s Jyothi Surekha took gold in women’s compound with silver for South Korea’s So Char-won. India also won the men’s compound with gold for Abhishek Verma and silver for compatriot Ojas Pravin Deotale.
