Updated at 9.50 pm
MUMBAI: Koneru Humpy provided India with the golden touch on an otherwise bleak day by clinching the women's rapid chess title at the Asian Games to open the country's yellow metal hunt.
Humpy, leading the bunch by half a point going into the final three rounds of the tournament today, finished with a highly creditable eight points out of a maximum nine to add to the country's medal tally of three silver and two bronze medals won over the last two days at the shooting range.
The 19-year-old girl from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, coached by her father Ashok since the tender age of five, stormed her way to the finish line by winning all her three matches on Monday.
Top seed Humpy, who lost only to silver medallist Zhao Xue of China, outsmarted her rivals Irine Kharisma Sukandar (Indonesia), Mahri Geldyyeva (Turkeministan) and Dana Aketayeva of Kazakhstan to give the Indian contingent its biggest success of the Games so far.
India went into the third day of competitions with three silver and two bronze medals in its kitty -- all coming from the shooting range -- and Humpy's scintillating display brought cheer to the camp after rifle shooters, including star markswoman Anjali Bhagwat, came a cropper in windy conditions.
The Indian men's hockey team commenced their campaign to regain the gold won eight years ago by outclassing lowly Bangladesh 6-0 while the men's handball team handed out a thrashing to minnows Macau to bring its hunt back on the rails.
But there were reverses on most other fronts, apart from the shooting range.
The men's team tennis team got knocked out by second seeds Taipei in round one, boxers Akhil Kumar and Jai Bhagwan were ousted in the 54 kg and 60 kg classes in the rounds of 16 bouts and paddlers, barring national champion Achanta Sharath Kamal, put up a dismal display.
