Jakarta: India ended their campaign at the Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang with their best ever medal haul of 69, but could not improve on the eighth-place finish from the last edition at Incheon. India picked up 15 gold, 24 silver and 30 bronze – bettering their previous best of 65 medals (14 gold, 17 silver, 34 bronze) from Guangzhou 2010. The Indians were never in with chance to break into the top five led by China and followed by Japan, South Korea, hosts Indonesia, and Uzbekistan.
Click to see interactive charts on India's perfomance at Asiad
In reality, it could have been a fantastic campaign for India. They made significant gains in athletics and won historic medals in table tennis. But there were big setbacks in hockey and kabaddi – events in which the Indians were expected to win a golden double.
Highlight
The performance of the athletics contingent was the highlight of the Indian campaign. The overall tally of seven gold, 10 silver and two bronze – was a huge jump from the two gold, four silver and seven bronze from Incheon. Neeraj Chopra as expected won the javelin gold with a national record of 88.06m. The 20-year-old is a genuine medal prospect at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Keralite Jinson Johnson missed out on a gold in 800m as teammate Manjit Singh pulled off a stunning win, but he bounced back by grabbing the 1,500m gold.
Tajinder Pal Singh Toor claimed the shot put gold with a Games and national record hurl of 20.75m to begin India’s gold hunt in athletics. World under-20 champion Hima Das continued her fine run by clinching the 400m silver and was also part of the women’s 4x400m relay team which won the gold. The 18-year-old was also a member of the 4x400m mixed relay quartet which bagged silver.
The other gold medallists were Swapna Barman in heptathlon and Arpinder Singh in triple jump.
Quarter-miler Muhammed Anas, who won silver besides being a part of the silver-medal winning mixed relay and men’s 4x400m relay teams, was also impressive. Sprinter Dutee Chand too had a memorable outing as she bagged silver in both 100m and 200m.
Shooters on target
The shooters did their job by picking up a couple of gold medals, four silver and three bronze medals. Rahi Sarnobat (women’s 25m pistol) and teenager Saurabh Chaudhary (men’s 10m air pistol) gunned down gold, while teenagers Lakshay Sheoran (men’s trap) and Shardul Vihan (men’s double trap) besides the seasoned Sanjeev Rajput (men’s 50m rifle three positions) and Deepak Kumar (men’s 10m air rifle) clinched silver. Teen sensation Manu Bhaker failed to get going, but the 16-year-old would have learnt valuable lessons and that will stand her in good stead in the future.
Sindhu, Saina excel
P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal made sure India improved their tally of a lone bronze from badminton at Incheon. Sindhu became the first Indian shuttler to qualify for the Games final before she was outwitted by world No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying in the gold medal match.
Tai had also stopped Saina in the semifinals, but the latter had the consolation of earning the individual medal from the sport after Syed Modi’s bronze in the 1982 edition.
The men’s shuttlers, on the other hand, had a forgettable outing. Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy failed to get past the round of 32, while both the men’s and women’s teams bowed out in the quarterfinals.
Amit’s stunning triumph
Boxer Amit Panghal pulled off a spectacular win over Rio Olympic gold medallist Hasanboy Dusmatov in the light flyweight (49 kg) final. The 22-year-old had lost to the Uzbek in the quarterfinals of the World Championships last year. But the Commonwealth Games silver medallist took the attack to Dusmatov and won 3-2 on points. Vikas Krishan was the only other Indian pugilist to pick up a medal after he was declared unfit to fight in the middleweight (75) kg semifinals.
The rowers too fared impressively as they won a gold and two silver medals.
The Indian men’s table tennis team led by veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal picked up a first-ever bronze medal by reaching the semifinals. Earlier, Sharath Kamal had paired up with Manika Barta to win the country’s maiden medal, a bronze, from the sport at the Games by making it to the semifinals of the mixed doubles.
The Indian men also won a historic bronze from sepak takraw (team regu).
The Indian women's squash team led by Joshna Chinappa scored a stunning win over favourites Malaysia to enter the final. But they again had to be content with the silver after being outclassed by Hong Kong in the final. Joshna, Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal won a bronze in singles, while the men’s team too earned a bronze.
India won a gold and two bronze in tennis. Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan clinched the men’s doubles gold, while Ankita Raina and Prajnesh Gunneswaran bagged a bronze in singles.
The sailors (a silver and two bronze) too had a decent outing, while the Indians picked up two silver in equestrian, a silver and a bronze in kurash, and four bronze medals from wushu.
Wrestlers disappoint
Star wrestlers Bajrang Punia (men’s freestyle 65 kg) and Vinesh Phogat (women’s freestyle 50 kg) won gold as expected. But, among other grapplers only Divya Kakar (women’s freestyle 68 kg) could finish on the podium. There are serious question marks over two-time Olympic medal winner Sushil Kumar’s future as he crashed out in the opening round (men’s freestyle 74 kg). Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik too returned empty handed after losing the bronze-medal bout (women’s freestyle 62 kg).
Kabaddi, where India had won all gold medals (seven in the men’s section and two in women’s event) since the sport's inclusion, was a big disappointment. South Korea upset the Indian men in the group stage before Iran ended their golden run in the semifinals. Iran bagged a golden double as they edged out the Indian eves in the final.
Heartbreak in hockey
India suffered a heartbreak in hockey. The men’s team was the firm favourite to retain the gold. The Indians made merry in the group stage, but they conceded a late equaliser against Malaysia in the semifinals and crashed out in a shoot-off. The team edged Pakistan 2-1 to end up with a consolation bronze.
Japan, who stunned Pakistan in the other semifinal, completed a rare double as they prevailed over Malaysia in a shoot-off. The Japanese women too completed a maiden triumph as they beat India 2-1 in the final. Both the Indian men and women will now have to go through the grind of the Olympic qualifiers to seal a spot in Tokyo 2020.
The Tokyo Olympics is next on the radar of the Indian athletes. Despite the overall good show here, Neeraj, Sindhu, Saina and Amit are the only ones who appeared to be genuine medal prospects at the global event.
