India’s Fabulous Medal Rush At Hangzhou Asian Games 2023 Augurs Well For Future

Indian athletes made the nation proud with their sterling medal rush at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023. India in- fact won more medals this than any previous Games. Thus making the achievement momentous as well as historic. A sign that Indian athletes are now second to none and can take on the very best in business and come on top and see that the tri-colour flies high at mega sporting events. Be it Commonwealth Games, Olympics as well .

The medal rush at Hangzhou was stupendous – India bagged a stunning 107 medals in all – 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 Bronze. In the overall medals tally, India finished fourth after – China finished on top with – 383 – 201 gold medals, 111 silver medals and 71 bronze. Japan second with 188 medals – 52 Gold, 67 Silver, 69 Bronze. Republic Of Korea bagged 190 medals – 42 Gold , 59 Silver, 89 Bronze .

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too tweeted about India’s sterling show as he wrote in X, What a historic achievement for India at the Asian Games!

The entire nation is overjoyed that our incredible athletes have brought home the highest ever total of 107 medals, the best ever performance in the last 60 years.

The unwavering determination, relentless spirit and hard work of our players have made the nation proud. Their victories have given us moments to remember, inspired us all and have reaffirmed our commitment to excellence.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha was understandably buoyed by India’s splendid showing. And she expected that the Asian Games showing performance would be repeated at the Paris Olympics 2024 . “After this record-breaking performance in the Hangzhou Asian Games, if our country’s athletes, coaches and national federations work hard, I feel we can win double digit medals in the Paris Olympics,” Usha told PTI in Hangzhou.

There were achievements galore, For the first time Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won badminton gold medal at the Asian Games.

Ruturaj Gaekwad led India’s men’s cricket team clinched the gold medal in their Asian Games debut campaign after the final against Afghanistan was called off due to rain.

Javelin star Neeraj Chopra continues his amazing a run and consistency is one to admire – Chopra was in his elements in China too as he bagged the Gold while countryman Kishore Jena finished behind him to settle for a silver medal. Making it a rare 1-2 for India .

Picture : AFI/X

The men’s and women’s kabaddi teams regained their pride of place after slipping in 2018 Jakarta. Archer Jyothi Vennam too had her golden moment on the country’s final day of competition.

Sutirtha Mukherjee and Auhika Mukherjee fought till the very end in a gritty display  against North Korea that lasted 60 minutes to win the women’s doubles table tennis bronze.

Hangzhou show by India has given the athletes the self- belief   and the confidence. Now the target  should be the encore at Paris Olympics 2024. And for that to happen the athletes need all support and encouragement they need to excel on the big stage . Issues like the messy  WFI sexual assault case involving former president Brij Bhushan Saran Singh  and Olympic medal winning wrestlers need to be avoided . Such incidents  mar the reputation of a country . And the slogan Khelo  India  becoming a  rhetoric .

And while the country is ecstatic with the medal winners of the Asian Games 2023  , one needs to also give them patient and honest hearing when they in their careers face road- blocks .  The sight of Delhi police  dragging the Olympic medal winning   wrestlers while they were sitting in protest against Brij Bhushan Saran  Saran’s  alleged misdemeanours  was not a sight any sports fan would want to see. Those visuals were very disheartening .

Finally, the medal winners are our national heroes and have brought pride for the nation with their sweat and battling several hardships in their respective sports. They deserve full respect  and not humiliation.  If we adopt this mantra India and athletes will soar high further  and the nation will on the lips  say Chak de India !