Recent success in the Asian Games can help other Indian sports
Indian sports have been hugely dominated by cricket for many years. The golden generation of Indian hockey has also become a thing of the past. India in recent multi-nation tournaments has proven itself by recording historically best performances. The recent success in the Asian Games is a testament to the fact that India is on the way to becoming a multi-sports nation.
Asian Games
India recorded its best time in the Asian Games this year by bringing 107 medals home. India’s previous best tally was in the Jakarta Asian Games in 2018 where they won 70 medals. The tally of 107 medals included 28 gold medals. India’s 28 gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022 is the highest the country has ever won in its history. India won 29 medals in athletics and 22 medals in shooting.
Shooting
In shooting the Indian contingent was more efficient winning seven gold medals. There were six Men’s teams in shooting and all six of them returned home with medals including four gold medals. The trio of Divyansh Singh Panwar, Rudrankksh Patil and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar now have a world record to their name in the 10-metre air rifle team with a score of 1893.7. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Akhil Sheoran and Swapnil Kusale also are now world record holders in the 50-metre rifle three-position team with a score of 1769. Kynan Chenai, Prithviraj Tondaiman and Zoravar Singh Sandhu smashed the games record in the Trap team event with a score of 361.
Sift Kaur Simra won the gold medal in the women’s 50-metre rifle. In the process of winning the gold medal she also smashed the world record with a score of 469.6. Palak Gulia won the gold medal in the women’s 10-metre air pistol with a score of 242.1 which is now the new games record. The women’s team of Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan in the 25-metre air pistol also won the gold medal with a score of 1759.
Athletics
When India had won 22 medals in shooting in the early days of the games it felt like it would be hard for players from different sports to topple that tally. India overall ranked third in Athletics at the 2022 Asian Games behind China’s 39 and Bahrain’s 16 (including 10 gold). India won 29 medals in athletics. They won six gold medals, 14 silver medals and nine bronze medals. Avinash Sable smashed the games record in the 3,000-metre steeplechase to win the gold medal. Sable also won a silver medal in the 5,000-metre race. The men’s team of Amoj Jacob, Rajesh Ramesh, Mohammad Anas and Muhammad Ajmal won the gold medal in the 4*400-metre relay.
One of the greatest moments came in the men’s javelin throw where Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Kumar Jena themselves won the gold and silver medal. Neeraj smashed his season-best record with a throw of 88.88 metres to win the gold medal. Kishore Jena threw his personal best at the event distancing 87.54 metres to win the silver medal. Tajinderpal Singh Toor won his second consecutive gold medal at the Asian Games in the shot put with a throw of 20.36 metres. Tejaswin Shankar smashed his personal best and even the national record in the decathlon event with a score of 7666.
Parul Chaudhary won a gold and silver medal in the 5000-metre race and the 3000-metre steeplechase respectively. She recorded her personal best in the steeplechase with a time of 9 minutes and 27 seconds. Priti Lamba finished behind Chaudhary in the steeplechase and won the bronze with a personal best time of 9 minutes and 43 seconds. Annu Rani won a gold medal in the javelin throw with a throw of 62.92 metres recording her season’s best throw. In yet another inspiring story, Ram Baboo and Manju Rani won a bronze medal in the mixed event of team 35km race walk. Ram Baboo’s journey from being a labourer to an Asian Games medalist is very inspiring.
Other sports at the Asian Games
India enjoyed success in other sports as well with nine medals in archery including five gold medals. In wrestling, India won six medals while in squash, rowing and boxing they won five medals each. In badminton, India had a poor outing as per their standards winning only three medals including just one gold. In cricket and kabaddi, both the men’s and women’s teams returned home with gold medals. If you too want to enjoy these sports at the Asian Games or in some other tournaments while also making some money then you should check out 10CRIC.
Conclusion
The success of India at the Asian Games in 2022 will serve as evidence of its advancement towards multisport nation status. This year, India brought home 107 medals from the Asian Games, including 28 gold ones, setting a new record. More medals have now been won by India than at any other time in its history. In a variety of sports at the Asian Games, including boxing, badminton, cricket, wrestling, squash, shooting, athletics and archery, India won its medals. This shows that India is developing a robust sporting culture in other sports as well, beyond just being a nation obsessed with cricket.