Indian ace shuttler Chirag Shetty's father Chandrashekhar Shetty on Saturday expressed his delight after his son won a historic gold medal in men's doubles at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on Saturday.
The Indian pair of Chirag and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy defeated South Korea's Solgyu Choi and Wonho Kim 21-18, 21-16 in 57 minutes to become the first-ever Indian badminton pair to win gold at the Asian Games. Chandrasekhar said that Chirag won this medal for the country. "I am happy because he won a gold medal which no other player has won earlier in badminton... He has won the gold for his country," Chandrasekhar told ANI. In the first set, the South Korean pair was leading 18-15. However, the star Indian duo stormed back into the contest, producing scintillating badminton to win six straight points and eventually take the opening set 21-18. After winning the first game, Satwiksairaj-Chirag did not look back and the duo moved through the gears in the second to win the gold medal match in straight sets. Chandrasekhar expressed his gratitude towards the government for its support and added that India will win 200 medals in the future. Indian contingent truly lived up to "Iss baar 100 paar" goal in style as on Saturday they officially passed the 100 medal mark. With 95 medals won on Friday, India was already guaranteed to reach the century mark in the medal count. On Saturday, India won four more medals in archery while the women's kabaddi team's victory over Chinese Taipei in the summit clash gave India its 100th medal in total. The Indian contingent bagged a record 107 medals - 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze - in Hangzhou, surpassing their previous best, set at 2018 Jakarta. "As PM Modi dreamt of having more than 100 medals, he did it... I want to also add that the government has supported it. I salute to the government. These 100 medals will become 200 medals in the future..." Chandrasekhar added. (ANI)
|