Asian Games 2010 Medal Tally - India got Silver in Snooker

After the high of Pankaj Advani’s gold in billiards on Sunday, a silver for the snooker team on Tuesday was a bit disappointing. Yet, the bigger reality was how India lost the final to China (1-3).

There are more medals up for grabs in the green baize sport, but what’s indeed creditable is how the hosts have worked hard to prove their mettle in a new sport. The man who is best equipped to comment on the new phenomenon of Chinese learning the tricks of the trade is none other than Geet Sethi. When cue sports were introduced at the Bangkok Asiad in 1998, India were the kings. Now, it seems, the story is not the same.

On Tuesday, Sethi was in the Doordarshan commentary box when Yasin Merchant struggled against World No. 4 Ding Junhui in the crucial singles. In the 100- point format, the Indians still need to catch up.

Ding made short work of his Indian opponent without giving him any chance to visit the table. With a 2-1 lead in the best of- five-frames game, the Chinese would not have even allowed Merchant the luxury of a good break, even if it was in his hands.

The other team members — Aditya Mehta and Brijesh Damani — were mere spectators. Such was his play that Ding did everything with clockwork precision. He notched up a comfortable 97 to take the frame and the gold for his team. In contrast, Asian champion Merchant could do nothing but applaud the Chinese’s fluent play.

And that is why Sethi calls Ding a young sensation. “This guy is simply superb,” summed up the Indian legend in one word. Talking about the progress the Chinese have made in cue sport, Sethi couldn’t but admire the commitment of the players, the system and the facilities being given to them.

“Somebody told me after the Beijing Olympics about a comment by China’s sports minister where he had said he was ashamed that his country’s sportspersons could not win some gold medals in athletics.

This was after the hosts had topped the list of medal tally with some 50-odd gold medals. This also shows the commitment of the government, which wants the country to rule the sporting world,” said Sethi, giving full marks to the system.

Merchant, too, saluted the way the Chinese had prepared this time. “We had beaten them at Vietnam (Indoor Games) last year but the amount of preparation they have put in for these Games is mindboggling. I can only salute their efforts,” said the former Asian champion.

Ding, a 23-year-old, has already won three ranking tournaments, including the sport’s biggest — the UK championships — and his triumph in the China Open was watched by an estimated 110 million in his homeland. The Chinese are already looking at a positive effect for cue sport in general and snooker in particular. It’s definitely on after Ding proved who the master at the table was.

Here is the updated Medal Tally :

Rank - Country - Gold - Silver - Bronze - Total
1. China - 54 - 20 - 19 - 93
2. R.O. Korea - 18 - 14 - 18 - 50
3. Japan - 13 - 25 - 23 - 61
4. Chinese Taipei - 2 - 3 - 9 - 14
5. Hong Kong, China - 2 - 3 - 2 - 7
6. DPR Korea - 1 - 4 - 9 - 14
7. India - 1 - 4 - 3 - 8