Close misses theme of the day as Indians fall short of golden mark in athletics

In a series of close calls at the Asian Games in Nagoya, India's athletics team faced heartbreak despite being in contention for gold medals. In the women's long jump, Ancy Sojan edged out to silver by just 2cm after Chinese jumper Yingying Huang's jump of 6.55m bested her 6.53m. Shaili Singh was also left disappointed as she fell short of bronze by 4cm to Mengyi Tan's 6.46m.

In the high jump, Sarvesh Kushare's hopes of gold seemed promising with the absence of Mutaz Barshim, but he ultimately secured silver instead. Tejaswin Shankar's decathlon performance fell short of expectations, netting him bronze after a near-gold finish. High hopes built around Kushare's chance to claim gold in the men's high jump were dashed when he failed to clear 2.28m.

India's gold medal tally remains minimal compared to China's 119 at the Hangzhou edition, with a sparse 16 silver and 17 bronze medals. Despite the setbacks, there is still time for India to improve its gold medal count, but Sunday's results highlighted the challenge of converting near-gold performances into actual gold.