Asian Games 2023 roller skating: India win bronze medals in speed skating 3000m relays
The women’s team comprised Karthika Jagadeeswaran, Heeral Sadhu and Aarathy Kasturi Raj while Vikram Rajendra Ingale, Siddhant Rahul Kamble and Anandkumar Velkumar made up the men’s team.
Roller Speed Skating
The Indian men’s and women's speed skating 3000m relay teams won the bronze medals in their respective Asian Games 2023 roller skating events on Monday.
In the women’s relay, the Indian trio of Karthika Jagadeeswaran, Heeral Sadhu and Aarathy Kasturi Raj clocked 4:34.861 to finish third on the podium behind Chinese Taipei (4:19.447) and the Republic of Korea (4:21.146). Sanjana Bathula was the fourth member of the Indian team for the event but didn’t compete.
Iran and Thailand finished fourth and fifth, respectively in a five-team field.
The trio of Vikram Rajendra Ingale, Siddhant Rahul Kamble and Anandkumar Velkumar competed under the India flag in the men’s relay. Aryanpal Singh Ghuman was the fourth member of the squad but didn’t race.
The trio qualified for the final after finishing second in heat 2 with a timing of 4:15.126. In the medal race, the Indian team cut down their timing to 4:10.128 and finished third. Chinese Taipei (4:05.692) took the gold in the men’s relay race too, beating South Korea (4:05.702) in a photo-finish.
The two medals on Monday opened India’s roller skating medals tally at the Asian Games 2023.
These were also India’s first medals in roller skating at the continental showpiece since Guangzhou 2010. Anup Kumar Yama bagged one bronze in the men’s singles free skating event and clinched another third spot with compatriot Avani Panchal in the pairs skating competition.
Earlier, Aarthy Kasturi Raj finished fifth in the women's speed skating 10000m point-elimination race while Heerak Sadhu was eliminated. In the men's speed skating 10000m point-elimination race, Anandkumar Velkumar and Siddhant Rahul Kamble came in sixth and seventh, respectively.
Vikram Rajendra Ingale had narrowly missed out on a podium spot in the men's speed skating 1000m sprint event, finishing fourth. Aryanpal Singh Ghuman had finished seventh in the same event. In the women’s speed skating 1000m sprint, Karthika Jagadeeswaran finished fifth.