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'Queen of women's cricket' - Fans react as Smriti Mandhana opens up about her emotions after India's Asian Games 2023 triumph

Team India opener Smriti Mandhana opened up about her feelings while hoisting the national flag after the medal ceremony.

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Daniel S
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Smriti Mandhana

Smriti Mandhana (Source: Twitter)

India women's cricket team bagged the gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 after defeating Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final on Monday in Hangzhou. The Indian players were pleased and proud of this spectacular achievement and so were the millions of fans. Defending a competitive total of 116 runs in challenging conditions, the Women in Blue restricted Sri Lanka to 97/8 in 20 overs.

The Indian camp was all smiles as the players gathered for the medal ceremony. Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. took center stage on the podium, joined by the Sri Lankan players and the Bangladesh players who won silver and bronze respectively. The dignitaries started presenting the medals with Bangladesh, followed by Sri Lanka. There was a huge cheer from the crowd when Team India's name was announced to receive the gold medal.

It was an incredible scene at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field while Indian players received their respective gold medals along with lovely flower bouquets. The national anthem of India was played after the medal ceremony, which will surely have given goosebumps to all Indians.

Meanwhile, speaking after the ceremony, India Women's team vice-captain Smriti Mandana opened up about her emotions while hoisting the national flag. "I had tears in my eyes when the national flag went up during the national anthem - this is very special, we have seen when Neeraj Chopra won the Gold, so happy to contribute the country with the medal," the left-hander told news agency ANI.

Smriti Mandhana-Jemimah Rodrigues partnership was crucial in India's final win 

Talking about the summit clash, India, who elected to bat first, managed a respectable total on the back of a brilliant second-wicket partnership between Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues. After losing the wicket of opener Shafali Verma early on, it was Mandhana-Rodrigue's 73-run partnership that brought India back into the game. Both fell in their 40s and there were no significant contributions from any of their batters.

In reply, Sri Lanka had a horror start as Titas Sadhu broke the backbone of the opposition batting unit with a three-wicket haul. The 18-year-old spell of 4-1-6-3 gave a comfortable victory for Team India. Rajeshwari Gayakwad also claimed two wickets, while Devika Vaidya, Pooja Vastrakar and Deepti Sharma took one wicket each.

Here's how fans reacted to Smriti Mandhana's statement: 

India Sri lanka Asian Games Asian Games 2023 India women