Column | Asian Games review: plenty of scope for improvement despite fine show at Hangzhou
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Achieving the three figure mark is a landmark in all sporting events. Hitting a century in cricket, scoring the 100th goal in football, winning more than 99 titles in tennis and other individual events are all occasions worthy of celebration. Hence it was moment for happiness and cheer when the medal tally of the Indian contingent crossed 100 in the Asian Games which ended at Hangzhou in China on Sunday.
The success at Hangzhou underlined underlined India’s increasing stature in the world of sports with flourish and elegance. Eyebrows were raised when a 655-strong contingent left the shores of the country for Hangzhou where the event was held. But the sportspersons did the country proud by returning with the highest ever tally of 107 medals (28 gold, 38 silver, 41 bronze), thus taking the country to an all high time of fourth position. This is a distinct improvement by four positions from the eighth place that we occupied, both at Jakarta in 2018 and at Incheon four years before that. Never before had the nation enjoyed such heady success in any edition of the Games, which makes this a memorable occasion.
Hosts China took the pole position in medals tally with a total haul of 383 (201 gold, 111 silver, 71 bronze) This was on expected lines, given their past performances, both at Olympics and in the previous editions of the Games. The fact that they bagged more than twice the number of medals than those won by Japan, who were placed second, with 188 (52, 67, 69), showed their overall supremacy. South Korea came third 42 gold medals in a total tally of 190. The difference between India and the third placed nation tells us that we have many more miles to go before we can break into the top three.
An analysis of the medals won by India shows that shooting, athletics and archery brought the best returns for the country. We had won only two gold medals in shooting at Jakarta which increased to seven this time around. The total number of medals won in shooting also increased from nine in 2018 to 22 in 2023. Similarly, in archery we had won a mere two silver medals at Jakarta; but there was a quantum jump at Hangzhou, where the tally reached nine, which included five gold as well. However, in athletics, the number of gold medals came down from eight at Jakarta to six in Hangzhou, though the total number of medals increased from 20 in 2018 to 29.
India also reasserted supremacy in hockey in Asia after a long time. At one point of time, the clash between India and Pakistan on the hockey field used to be the most awaited one in the Games. However, this time around, Indian men showed their superiority in no uncertain terms, outclassing Pakistan by a margin of 10-2, en route to the gold. India outplayed Japan 5-1 in the final.
India winning two gold medals in squash (in men's team event and mixed doubles), a sport which used to be dominated by Pakistani players, was a pleasant surprise. Another highlight was the equestrian team taking the pole position for the first time since 1982, thus ending a long drought of 41 years. The golden run of the doubles duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and the silver won by the men's team showed the big strides that India has made in badminton in recent years. The addition of cricket in the list of competitions came as an added benefit as we came out on top in both men’s and women’s categories.
Despite the plethora of events in a championship of this nature, majority of the eyeballs are invariably drawn to the competitions on the track and field, which are followed with great anticipation and expectation by sports enthusiasts. Here, it must be admitted that India’s performances in athletics just met with the expectations and did not rise above them. Sportslovers, who were thrilled at the excellent returns from the Commonwealth Games (CWG) that was held in Birmingham last year, could be forgiven for hoping for a more inspired performance from Indians at Hangzhou. However, this was not to be, as many of the top ranked athletes failed to even reach the levels of their personal best achievements at Hangzhou. It is not surprising that no new national records were created by Indians during the course of this edition of the Games.
Apart from Neeraj Chopra, from who the nation expects nothing less than top position these days, the other gold medal winners in athletics are Avinash Sable (3000 metres steeplechase), Tejinderpal Singh Toor (shot put), Parul Chaudhury (women’s 5000m), Annu Rani (women’s javelin throw) and the men's 4x400m relay quartet. Chopra easily won the gold medal sending the javelin to a distance of 88.88m and did a 1-2 with Kishore Kumar Jena, who snatched silver in this event with a creditable performance of 87.54 metres. The improved standards of Indian athletes in this event was demonstrated with Annu winning the gold in women’s javelin with a distance of 62.92m.
Sable, who had become the first Indian to win a medal in steeplechase at CWG lived up to the expectations by winning the gold at Hangzhou. However, he could finish only in 8:19.54 seconds as against his timing of 8:11.20 seconds at Birmingham. He also added a silver to his kitty in 5000m, finishing second with a timing of 13:21.09 seconds. Parul achieved the reverse, winning the gold in 5000m and silver in 3000m steeple chase. A creditable achievement was the gold medal won by the Indian relay team comprising Muhammed Anas, Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob and Rajesh Ramesh, who clocked a time of 3:1.58 seconds. This team had broken the Asian record and qualified for the finals of the World Athletic Championship held at Budapest couple of months ago with a time of 2:59.05 seconds.
Sreeshankar won the silver medal in long jump with a leap of 8.19 metres, which was nowhere close to his personal best of 8.41m. He had won a silver at CWG too with a leap of 8.08m. Sreeshankar has been clearing distances exceeding 8m comfortably since 2018 but appears bogged down by an inability to perform consistently in big events. He failed to reach the finals of 2020 Olympics as well as the World Athletic Championship this year. He needs to take a serious call whether he requires the assistance of a foreign coach to help him realise his full potential. Moreover, he should take this decision early if he is to stand a chance for podium finish in the Paris Olympics next year.
Long jumper Ancy Sojan brought back of glorious memories of the days when women athletes from Kerala hogged the limelight in Asian championships, with a personal best of 6.63m that helped her win the silver medal. Though this is still some distance away from the national record of 6.83m set up by the legendary Anju Bobby George, the enthusiasm and dedication shown by Ancy marks her out as an athlete who can improve by leaps and bounds with proper coaching and support.
There were quite a few disappointments as well in athletics. India had created history at CWG when our athletes monopolised the podium at the conclusion of triple jump, winning the gold and silver. But only Praveen Chitravel, who had finished fourth at CWG, could make it to the podium at Hangzhou and redeem some pride by winning the bronze. The distance of 16.63m that he achieved at Hangzhou fell way short of his own national record of 17.37m. The excitement brought in by the exemplary performance of triple jumpers at Birmingham was extinguished by their lacklustre show at Hangzhou.
Another area of concern was the poor form shown by our wrestlers who returned without a gold medal. Even worse was the case of weightlifters, who could not bag even a single medal. Even in boxing, the pickings were much fewer than expected (one silver and four bronze) though four of our boxers qualified for Olympic Games to be held next year. The poor form of badminton ace P V Sindhu, who failed to win a medal, was disappointing as she was expected to finish on the podium.
The tally of 100-plus medals in the Games appears impressive and brings forth plenty of cheer, besides justifying the size of the contingent sent to Hangzhou. However, this should not make us blind to the fact that we are still way behind international standards in most events. We did not do well in events like wrestling, boxing and weightlifting, where we had seen our sportspersons win medals even in Olympics. Based on present form, none of our athletes, with the exception of Chopra and Jena, stand a chance of winning a medal in Paris Olympics, which gets underway in nine months.
Finally, a word about the hosts. It is not in dispute that the organisational skill and economic might of China was in full display during the Games. But Beijing smeared its copybook by refusing accreditation to thee Indian sportspersons , who were to take part in wushu, on the grounds that they hailed from the border state of Arunachal Pradesh. This action made China look small and petty as they tried to use an event of this nature, which is organised primarily to help develop friendly relations and peace amongst nations through the medium of sports, to highlight a border dispute and score a political point. The success of Indian contingent at Hangzhou and, in particular, the stellar performance of Norem Roshibina Devi of Manipur, who won the silver medal in wushu, was the perfect riposte to the low level one-upmanship indulged in by China.
(The author is a former international cricket umpire and a senior bureaucrat)