Asian Games 2023 Highlights: India men's hockey team clinches gold medal, seals Paris Olympics berth; Satwik/Chirag in men's doubles final

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday praised the Indian men's hockey team for their remarkable achievement in winning the gold medal at the Asian Games. He commended their unwavering commitment, passion, and teamwork, emphasizing that their victory had not only secured the game but had also touched the hearts of countless Indians.

The Indian men's and women's chess teams delivered impressive performances on Friday in the eighth round of the chess team competition at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. The men's team convincingly defeated South Korea with a score of 3.5-0.5, while the women's team thrashed Hong Kong with a perfect 4-0 score.

The men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty delivered a stellar performance, advancing to the final and bringing India closer to securing its first-ever badminton gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Friday.

Hockey India announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for each player of the men's team for their gold medal victory against Japan at the 19th Asian Games. HI also announced Rs 2.5 lakh for each support staff of the hockey team.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty scripted history by becoming first-ever Indian pair to enter final at Asian Games. The World No. 3 Indian duo will face Choi Soi Gyu/Kim Won Ho of Korea in the final on Saturday.

India's Satwik/Chirag storm into the final after beating Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi of Malaysia 21-17, 21-12 in the men's doubles semis. The Indian duo will fight for gold now.

HS Prannoy did not win the bronze after losing the semifinal on Friday; he clinched it after winning the quarterfinal. Such correlations are critical in understanding the effort that worked in the quarterfinal but not in the semis. No wonder both chief coach Pullela Gopichand and Prannoy became emotional and broke down after the quarterfinal victory, for only they knew how this was achieved.

The Indian men's hockey team produced a power-packed performance against the defending champions Japan as Harmanpreet Singh and co. registered a famous 5-1 win to reclaim Asian Games gold after 9 years. With the terrific win, the Indian team grabbed its fourth gold at the continental event -- the others coming in 1966, 1998 and 2014. The emphatic victory also helped India seal the berth for next year's Paris Olympics.

The Indians, who had to be content with a bronze medal in the last edition in Jakarta, thus won their fourth Asian Games gold and first since the 2014 Incheon edition. India's other gold medals came in 1966 and 1998, both times in Bangkok.

The Indian men's team stumbled on the final hurdle against Hong Kong, and settled for a silver medal in the bridge competition at the Asian Games on Friday. India, a gold and two bronze-medal winner at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, lost to Hong Kong 152-238.1 in the gold-medal match at Hangzhou.