Asian Winters Games: India ends medal-less, Tara Prasad impresses in ice skating

HARBIN (China): India ended their run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal at Harbin, China, with figure skater Tara Prasad and the Indian ice hockey team creating some positive impact.

Tara emerged as one of the stars for India at the event with an eighth-place finish in the women’s figure skating event, as per Olympics.com.

She placed eighth in the short programME with a score of 49.17 on Wednesday before gaining a spot in the free skating segment with a total of 99.17 on the final day of the event.

Tara Prasad, a three-time Indian national champion, impressed the judges with her graceful free skating routine to rake in a Technical Element Score of 52.45 and a Program Component Score of 46.72 for her total. She suffered 0 deductions. Her combined score of 148.34 placed Tara Prasad eighth in the final rankings.

Meanwhile, Manjesh Tieari finished 15th in men’s figure skating with a total of 76.41 to bring India’s campaign at Harbin to a close.

The Republic of Korea’s Kim Chae-yeon, a world championships bronze medallist, to the gold medal in the event with a score of 219.44. Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto (211.90) and Hana Yoshida (205.20) claimed the silver and bronze, respectively.

Proud moment for Indian Ice Hockey! Unranked India defeats Macau 4-2 in the Asian Winter Games

And we’re thrilled to have our very own Dr. Sarthak as the Chief Medical Officer of Team India!

Congratulations to the team on this monumental victory! #IndianIceHockey #AsianGames pic.twitter.com/AElgnJb2vU

— Sports Science India, India (@SSI__India) February 9, 2025

Meanwhile, the Indian men’s ice hockey team finished 12th in its debut Asian Winter Games campaign after losing 13-2 to Singapore in the 11th-place playoff. Earlier, they had qualified for the playoff by finishing third in Group C.

Following heavy defeats to Hong Kong China (30-0) and Turkmenistan (19-1), India beat Macau China 4-2 in their final group stage game to register their first-ever win in the continent’s premier multi-sport winter sports competition.

Meanwhile, Winter Olympian Mohammad Arif Khan finished 25th in the men’s slalom alpine skiing event. Compatriot Mayank Panwar finished 20th in the event while Sunil Kumar was 26th.

In the women’s slalom, Youth Olympian Aanchal Thakur finished 25th while Sandhya and Tanuja Thakur finished in the 21st and 28th spots, respectively.

Speed skater Swarali Deo, who is a national-level gold medallist, failed to progress beyond the heats in the women’s 1000m short-track event. She was also knocked out in the semi-final stage of the women’s 3000m event.

India had sent their largest contingent of 59 athletes at this year’s Asian Winter Games. (ANI)