In the Asian games 2014, the India’s performance in Incheon was full of surprises and disappointments. India began pretty well with Jitu Rai getting the first gold medal on the very first day. But then the performance dipped a little bit with most of the athletes getting bronze medal. After that, Indians picked up pace and won gold and silver medals.
The Indian team finished the Asian games at 8th place with 11 golds,10 silvers,and 36 bronzes. The biggest disappointment was Saina Nehwal, who lost in the quarter finals and PV Sindhu also to progress through the quarter-finals.
In Asian Games only, the Indian squash team did exceptionally well in singles and team event. In single’s Sourav Ghosal won the silver medal and Deepkia Pallikal won the bronze medal. In team event, the men’s team won gold and the women’s team won the silver medal. Great Achievement!
In wrestling, India won 1 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals. Yogeshwar Dutt was one the center point’s who brought a sigh of relief as he won the first gold medal in Asian games after 28 years and also Bajrang winning the silver medal . This shows that the young Indian wrestlers have the capability to bring medals at international level.
In Athletics, the team won 2 golds, 3 silvers and 8 bronzes. The biggest surprise was Khusbir Kaur winning a silver medal in 20Km race walk. The Indian athletics contingent did well in Asian games previously. Others who did well playing for the first time at the Asian games were Annu Rani in Javelin Throw and Indjreet Singh in Shot put. The 4×400 women’s relay team also won the gold medal. They also broke the Asian games record.
India won medals in sports which they were never expected to win. These sports include Swimming, where Sandeep Sejwal won bronze. In Wushu, one girl and 1 boy won bronze each and in Sailing, the Indian pair of Varsha and Aishwarya won bronze.
In Tennis, the performance was good. The likes of Somdev,Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna withdrew the games but without them also, India won 3 bronze, 1 silver and 1 gold. Saina Mirza and Saketh won the mixed doubles finals in straight sets. Yuki Bhambri, who won bronze, needs to prone down the errors while playing long matches. He lost the semi finals after winning the first set. After that, he lost all the momentum which led to his downfall. In doubles, Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan won the first set but after that the Koreans came back strongly to strech the match into super tie break.
Kabaddi, a game where India has won all the six gold medals at the previous Asian games, won their 7th title and the women’s team also won their second. In the fina,l the women’s team defeated the Iran team 30-21. The men’s team match was much closer than expected. The Iran team led at first half 21-13 but then India came back strongly and won the match 27-25.
The Indian Hockey team won the gold medal today and earned a place in the Rio Olympics in 2016. In this tournament, the Indian team beat Oman, Sri Lanka, lost to Pakistan, won against China, beat South Korea in semi finals by 1-0. The final match of the tournament saw India and Pakistan fight for the gold medal and Srejeesh was the star, as he saved two penalties. This will be a stepping stone for the Indian team for much more things to come in future. The team played as a unit and now they’ll have to work more hard if they have to come in top 6.
In Boxing, the team did well by winning a gold, which was won by Mary Kom. Sarita Devi and Pooja Rani won the bronze medal. In male’s section, Satish Kumar and Vikas Krishan won bronze.
In the Compound Event, the Indian team defeated the strong South Koreans to win the gold medal and Abishek Verma won the silver medal in individual event in the same one.
India won the Kabaddi finals in both men’s and women’s section. They have jumped up to eighth place now. This has been a good performance despite a poor start. India had 65 medals overall in the last edition and were 6th place , this time the Indian contingent had some of big stars missing in some sports and BCCI did not send cricket teams in the Asian games. Lets hope that India will learn from their mistakes and do well in next Asian games in 2018.
Medal Winners:
Gold:
1 Jitu Rai-Shooting
2. Men’s compound team event- Archery
3. Men’s team- Sqaush
4. Yogeshwar Dutt- Wrestling
5. Seema Punia- Athletics
6. Saketh / Sania Mirza- Tennis
7. Mary Kom Hemangate – Boxing
8. Men’s team- Hockey
9. Women’s relay(4×400)- Athletics
10 Women’s team- Kabaddi
11. Men’s team- Kabaddi
Silver
1. Sourav Ghosal-Squash
2. Team event- Shooting
3. Women’s team- Squash
4. Abishek Verma- Archery
5. Khusbir Kaur- Athletics
6. Saketh / Sanam Singh- Tennis
7. Bajrang Punia- Wrestling
8. Vikas Gowda (Discuss throw)- Athletics
9. Tintu Luka (800m race)- Athletics
10. Manujla Bala (Hammer throw)- Athletics
Bronze
1. Shweta Chaudary- Shooting
2. Jitu Rai, Samresh Jung and Najappa- Bronze
3. Women’s team event (Badmination)- Bronze
4. Team event- Bronze
5. Dipikia Pallikal- Sqaush
6. Team event- Shooting
7. Abhinav Bindra- Shooting
8. Devi- Wushu
9. Narendra Garewal- Wushu
10. Dushyant Singh- Rowing
11. Swarn Singh- Rowing
12. Eight team- Rowing
13. Team Event- Shooting
14. Sandeep Sejwal- Swimming
15- Chain Singh- Shooting
16. Women’s team event- Archery
17- Trisha Deb- Archery
18- Vinesh Phogat- Wrestling
19- Geetika Jagkhar- Wrestling
20. Lalita Babbar- Athletics
21. Yuki Bhambri- Tennis
22. Saina Mirza/Prathmbore- Tennis
23. Yuki Bhambri/ Divij Sharan- Tennis
24. Poovamma Raju(Athletics)- 400m race
25. Rajiv Arokia(Athetics)-400m race
26. Narsingh Panchim Yadav- Wrestling
27. O. P Jaisha- Athletics
28. Naveen Kumar- Athletics
29. L Sarita Devi- Boxing
30. Pooja Rani- Boxing
31. Varsha/ Aishwarya- Sailing
32. Indian women’s team- Hockey
33. Annu Rani(Javelin Throw)- Athletics
34. Satish Kumar- Boxing
35. Vikas Krishan- Boxing
36. Indjreet Singh(Shot Put)- Athletics.