Rohit Mahajan in Hangzhou (Press ki Taquat)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Truly a night of matchless weirdness and madness, but it ended with a sense of normalcy \u2014 Neeraj Chopra had the gold medal on his chest, and all was well with the world, which seemed to have gone mad an hour previously.<\/p>\n

88.88, 80: These numbers stood out for India on a crazy night \u2014 the organisers failed to figure out how far Chopra had thrown the javelin in his first attempt! The Asian Games have been a stage for China to display its breathtaking technological advancements \u2014 failure to measure the distance between two points less than 90m apart, thus, simply boggles the mind.<\/p>\n

Chopra, thus, was forced to throw the javelin seven times instead of the customary six; more weirdness ensued when Kishore Jena, who practically worships Chopra, led the field after three throws \u2014 with a best of 86.77 metres to Chopra\u2019s 84.49m.<\/p>\n

That, said Chopra later, fired him. \u201cThat throw by Jena warmed me up, because I was feeling a bit down after the first attempt, which was ruled out\u2026 So, thank you Jena bhai!\u201d Chopra, whose fourth throw secured gold at 88.88m, said later.Also on Wednesday, India breached the 80-medal mark for the first time in the Asian Games; the number now stands at 81, an all-time record, 11 more than the mark of 70 achieved five years ago in Jakarta. With several more medals assured \u2014 including at least silver in hockey and cricket \u2014 90 seems a real possibility.<\/p>\n

Chopra\u2019s first throw of the evening was big \u2014 it comfortably sailed over line that marks 85m on the field. But then came a period of drama caused by rare ineptness \u2014 before Chopra\u2019s mark could be measured, another athlete was allowed to throw! The marks where their javelins landed were mixed up, apparently \u2014 which is weird, because Chopra\u2019s throw was massive, and no one in the field could have come anywhere close.<\/p>\n

Chopra argued and argued, but his mark was lost. \u201cThey didn\u2019t measure it properly. The next athlete threw quickly after me, and then they lost the mark,\u201d Chopra said later.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a while they kept searching… I knew it was a good throw\u2026 and I protested, but it was breezy and other athletes were in danger of their bodies getting cold, so it was unfair on them. The organisers then offered me a re-throw, and I accepted,\u201d Chopra said.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s third gold today was brought in by the quartet of Muhammed Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh, in men\u2019s 4x400m \u2014 no surprise there.<\/p>\n

The real thrill of the evening was provided by a breathtaking escape to silver by Harmilan Bains, who won her second silver with a stunning surge in the final 15-odd metres in the women\u2019s 800m final. For most of the race, Hoshiarpur\u2019s Harmilan was struck in the back, trapped between athletes in front, right and back of her \u2014 there seemed to be no way out. \u201cIt was so, so hard. Honestly, I don\u2019t know how I did that,\u201d she said. \u201cI was like \u2014 \u2018I have to break out of this bunch.\u2019 I kept trying with my hands, as everyone was trying to do that.\u201d But she broke through, finding space, making room by using her arms and shoulders, and slowly chasing down four competitors.<\/p>\n