Strive for Sixteen Golds (India at Asian Games 2018)-III
In this third part, we will start with Gymnastics
GYMNASTICS
In Gymnastics, India has won a single bronze medal till date at this level thanks to Ashish Kumar’s heroics in Guangzhou Asian Games 2010. In this year’s competition, Deepa Karmakar is all set to change the colour of the medal. She has recently won a Gold medal in World Challenge Cup and is definitely a medal prospect in her favourite vault event where if she goes for her Produnova vault, she can land a Gold. In men’s category, Ashish Kumar is participating but medal chances are bleak for him. So, we can expect one medal from Gymnastics and if fortune favoured the brave Dipa, it will be Gold.
Overall: 0 Gold 0 Silver 1 Bronze Total 1 Medal 12th Rank
Incheon 2014: 0 Gold 0Silver 0Bronze Total 0 Medal
Jakarta 2018(Prediction) : 1Gold 0Silver 0Bronze Total 1 Medal
HOCKEY – MEN’S
Hockey is one of the most popular sports in India. Though India has dominated Men’s hockey in Olympics with 8 Gold medals but at Asian level, we have been the perennial runners-up and has 9 Silver medals in 15 events so far. India has won only 3 Gold medals till date – that means India appeared in Finals for 12 times which is one more than even the Pakistani team which has 8 Gold medals in their cabinets. The good news is that Indian men’s hockey team is currently highest ranked Asian country in the world at No. 5. The next best are Malaysia at No. 12, Pakistan at No. 13 and S. Korea at No. 14. Going by the form too, India has recently beaten Pakistan in Champions trophy very easily. So, it is for India to lose the Gold medal. The stakes are quite high as a place for Tokyo Olympics will be finalized for the team finishing at the top.
Overall: 3 Gold 9 Silver 2 Bronze Total 14 Medal 3rd Rank
Incheon 2014: 1 Gold 0Silver 0Bronze Total 1 Medal
Jakarta 2018(Prediction): 1Gold 0Silver 0Bronze Total 1 Medal
HOCKEY – WOMEN’S
In Women’s hockey, India has won one Gold medal, one silver medal, and 3 Bronze medals till date and also finished at 4th place 4 times. So, in total India has been in the top four in all the 9 times this game has featured in Asian Games. India is placed at No. 10 in World’s ranking just behind China (8) and S. Korea (9). Going by the form, India is the only team to reach Quarterfinals in the recently concluded World Championship. China and Japan were eliminated at the Group stage while S. Korea lost in the crossover. India has a bright chance of winning a medal- the colour will be decided on the day. I believe India can at least win a silver medal.
Overall: 1 Gold 1 Silver 3 Bronze Total 5 Medal 4th Rank
Incheon 2014: 0 Gold 0Silver 1Bronze Total 1 Medal
Jakarta 2018(Prediction): 0Gold 1Silver 0Bronze Total 1 Medal
KABADDI
The story of Indian Kabaddi team is that of sheer dominance. Kabaddi was introduced for the first time in 1990 and India has won Gold all the 7 times. Women’s Kabaddi was introduced in 2010 Games and Indian eves have also managed Gold in the last two events. So, we have a total of 9 Golds in our kitty. In the last Games, Iranian men’s gave a tough fight to us in the finals and were ahead by 8 points during halftime but somehow, India managed to come back strongly to win by two points and it was decided in the last raid. Going by the form, Indians will not have any problem in winning 2 Gold.
Overall: 9Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze Total 9 Medals 1st Rank
Incheon 2014: 2 Gold 0Silver 0Bronze Total 2 Medals
Jakarta 2018(Prediction): 2Gold 0Silver 0Bronze Total 2 Medals
ROWING
In last Asian Games at Incheon, India won 3 bronze medals in Rowing and even won a Gold medal in 2010 Games when Bajrang Lal Thakkar made us proud in Single Sculls event. Traditionally, India has been winning medals consistently in rowing majority of them being bronze. This time too, it will be no different and India is expected to win 2-3 medals but winning Gold medal looks a far cry unless athletes like Dattu Bhokanal and Swaran Singh comes up with something special.
Overall: 1Gold 5 Silver 14 Bronze Total 20 Medals 7th Rank
Incheon 2014: 0 Gold 0Silver 3Bronze Total 3 Medals
Jakarta 2018(Prediction): 0Gold 1Silver 2Bronze Total 3 Medals
SAILING
The story of Sailing has not been much different from that of Rowing. We have consistently won medals and majority of them being bronze – in total we have won 17 medals as compared to Rowing’s 20 medals – one of them being Gold in 1982 Asian Games. In last Asian Games, we won one bronze medals and this games can also fetch one medal in Women’s team event.
Overall: 1Gold 6 Silver 10 Bronze Total 17 Medals 10th Rank
Incheon 2014: 0 Gold 0Silver 1Bronze Total 1 Medals
Jakarta 2018(Prediction): 0Gold 0Silver 1Bronze Total 1 Medal
SHOOTING
In recent years, Shooting has been one Sport where India has won bulk of medals at all levels including Olympics. However, when performance at Asian Games is considered, India has only 7 Gold medals to show in their kitty, out of which 4 has been won Jaspal Rana alone, though one of his Gold came in Team event. Other Gold medalists are Jitu Rai, Randhir Singh and Ranjan Sodhi – no Gold for Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang or Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore!! However, in terms of medals, India has won 49 medals. Indian shooting era at Asiad can be divided in two parts- pre- 1994 Hiroshima Games and post-Hiroshima. We had won only 6 medals including one Gold from 1954 to 1994 Games but once, the glass ceiling was broken by Jaspal Rana, India has managed to win 43 medals in last six games – an average of 7 medals per Game. Going by the form of team, we can easily manage to win the medal in the range of 7-10 medals, however, none of the Indian shooters is a strong contender of a Gold medal. We have shooters like Henna Sidhu, Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala but to expect them to win a Gold medal will be too much. China has been a dominant force in these events and to snatch Gold from them would be a herculean task.
Overall: 7Gold 17 Silver 25 Bronze Total 49 Medals 8th Rank
Incheon 2014: 1 Gold 1Silver 7Bronze Total 9 Medals
Jakarta 2018(Prediction): 0Gold 2Silver 5Bronze Total 7 Medals