India to clash with Pakistan as Eala suffers Games heartbreak / Photo: Jekesai NJIKIZANA - AFP
India to clash with Pakistan as Eala suffers Games heartbreak
India and arch-rivals Pakistan will clash for Asian Games cricket gold as Philippines tennis trailblazer Alexandra Eala suffered a shock semi-final exit on Thursday in Japan.
Neighbours India and Pakistan only meet in international tournaments due to political tensions, and in recent matches the players have refused to shake hands.
They will square up once more on Saturday, this time at the modest Korogi Athletic Park Stadium -- which used to be a baseball field -- in the city of Nagoya.
Games between the cricket-mad nations typically attract huge television audiences of hundreds of millions back home.
India's men hammered Sri Lanka by 124 runs after Pakistan beat Bangladesh by six wickets in the semi-finals.
India posted a testing 169-7 on a sharply turning pitch after being asked to bat.
Sri Lanka lost two wickets without a run on the board and crumbled to 45 all out in less than 10 overs of chaos that included three run-outs.
It was Sri Lanka's lowest total in a men's T20 international, worse than the 77 they scored against South Africa in New York in 2024.
Sri Lanka were given a taste of the power of 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on his Asian Games debut.
The fearless teenager, who topped the IPL batting charts this year, smoked a whirlwind 38 off 21 balls with six fours and two enormous sixes before falling to a thick edge caught at backward point.
"He is an amazing talent," said Sri Lankan coach Ashan Priyanjan.
Ishan Kishan was India's mainstay with a crafted 80 not out, including five sixes.
Earlier, Abdul Samad smashed an unbeaten 30 off 15 balls as Pakistan beat Bangladesh with nine balls to spare in a semi-final reduced to 13 overs by a wet outfield.
"To be honest, we don't really care about who will win and who will reach the final," said Pakistan batsman Saim Ayub, who scored 21 of his side's 112-4 after Bangladesh posted 111-7.
"All we care about is winning the final, no matter who we are playing against," he said of the prospect of facing India.
- Eala ousted -
Eala saw her bid for gold end in the last four to disappoint her throng of supporters.
China's world number 85 Wang Xiyu fought back to stun the top seed 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, and will play compatriot Zhang Shuai for the title.
World number 18 Eala, who skipped the prestigious China Open to play in Nagoya, was looking to become the first woman from the Philippines to win the title.
The 21-year-old will instead go home with only a bronze medal.
Eala was eliminated from the women's doubles competition after she and partner Shaira Rivera lost in the second round.
Eala last month became the first player from the Philippines to win a WTA Tour title.
She has become wildly popular in the Philippines, her every match followed by large numbers of cheering fans.
- Breakthrough -
Towards the end of day 12, China were sitting pretty at the top of the medals table with a whopping 152 golds.
Hosts Japan were a distant second with 55 and South Korea had 30.
One of China's golds went to Mu Xinyue, who called it "the happiest moment of my life" after she became the first woman to win an Asian Games title in eSports.
The 20-year-old played a pivotal role as China beat hosts Japan to win the final of horror survival game "Identity V" in Nagoya.
Mu is the only woman in China's 23-strong eSports squad at the Games.
Competitive gaming remains dominated by men.
At Asia's biggest sporting spectacular there are 534 eSports competitors, but just 14 of them -- less than three percent -- are women.
張-H.Zhāng--THT-士蔑報
