ASIAD 2018: The Great Medal Haul And Few Misses

Asian Games 2018 was indeed a time for rejoicing for the Indian sports fraternity. The largest ever gold medal haul, a record medal tally, success in games that are little known and yet disappointments in wrestling, kabbadi and boxing.

The final tally was 15 Gold Medals, 24 Silver and 30 Bronze, a total of 69 which surpassed the medal count of the 2010 Games in Guangzhou, China. The best part was there were several first time medals that were won in rowing, Wushu, Sepaktakraw. Kurash, Equestrian and Bridge, these sports are barely known in India and the results are highly encouraging.

Rahi Sarnobat won the Gold for shooting which is a first time for Indian women in Asian Games and so was Vinesh Phogat who won Gold in wrestling.

However, athletics was the major contributor towards the medal tally. Neeraj Chopra won a gold medal in men’s javelin throw while Swapna Barman gold in heptathlon took everyone by surprise as she was at the verge of calling it quits due to health issues.  Jinsons Johnson won a gold in 1500 m which was a first in 20 years, while Manjit Singh's gold for 800m came after a gap of 32 years and triple jump gold won by Arpinder Singh came after 48 years. There were two silver medals won for Archery. It was indeed historic for Indian badminton with the women shuttlers, PV Sindhu and Saina Newal securing a medal each in individual events. Shooting was yet another even which was very satisfying with a medal count of ten.

By: Madhuchanda Saxena

Content: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/asian-games/asian-games-2018-the-hits-and-the-misses/articleshow/65650999.cms