Strive for Sixteen Golds (India at Asian Games 2018)-II

In the first part, we looked at some past performances of Indian Contingent in last 17 Asian Games. let us switch gears and move to future. Now, it’s time to analyze the Indian prospects in various sports for the upcoming sporting extravaganza to be held in Jakarta and Palembang from 18th August to 2nd September. When Asiad was Organized in Jakarta last time in 1962, Indians fared exceptionally well and won 12 Gold medals. In medal tally, India was placed at a 3rd position, which is the second best rank in any of the Asian Games till date. Indians will be hoping to emulate their success this time too, at least in terms of Gold medals.

Currently, Indian contingent is riding high on their CWG success where they performed exceptionally well. Also, the form of some athletes provides us with a hope that once again, India will come home with half-century of medals. The only question that is lingering in the mind of fans is what will be the colour of the medals; whether we will be able to cross the magic figure of 15 Gold Medals or not! Let us find out – with one Game at a time and in Alphabetical order.

ARCHERY

Abhishek Verma - Gold medal Contender

We will start with Archery - There are two different events in Archery – Recurve and Compound. While recurve is an Olympic Sports, compound is not included in the Olympics. India has strong chances of landing medals in all three events of Compound Archery i.e. Men’s Team, Women’s Team and Mixed Team. In the last Asian Games at Incheon, India won 4 medals in Compound event and one of them was Gold in Men’s Team event. However, the individual category of Compound events has been dropped from this game and that has hurt Indian chances but we are strong in Team events as well. Indian Women’s team is currently ranked No. 1 in the world and going by the form of Abhishek Verma & Rajat Chauhan, India has a realistic chance of winning at least one Gold, if not more in this event. On the other hand, recurve archery doesn’t elicit much confidence though we have some big names like Deepika Kumari. Historically too, India has never won a Gold in this event and it will be a miracle if recurve team can change the history.

Overall : 1 Gold 2 Silver 5 Bronze Total 8 Medals 5th Rank

Incheon 2014 : 1 Gold 1Silver 2Bronze Total 4 Medals

Jakarta 2018(Prediction) : 1 Gold 1Silver 1Bronze Total 3 Medals

ATHLETICS

Two shining Star - Neeraj Chopra and Hima Das

India has been a powerhouse in Athletics at this level. Till last games, India has won 72 Gold medals out of total 139 Golds won till date by Indian contingent i.e. more than 50% of Gold has come from Athletics itself. It will be no different this time. If India has to surpass the magic figure of 15 Gold, then more than 50% has to come from this Sports. And it is possible – quite possible. If Indian athletes perform to their potential, this is a very achievable target. In Neeraj Chopra, Hima Das and 4*400 women’s relay team, India has three sure shot Gold medal contenders. Add to this fact that Hima Das will be competing in 2 events i.e. 200m and 400m. Other Gold medals can come from Seema Punia in Discuss Throw – who won a Gold medal in last Asian Games, Swapna Barman in Heptathlon, 4*400 m Mixed team relay, Sudha Singh in 3000m Steeplechase, Dutee Chand in 100m, 4*400m Men’s relay team, Md. Anas in 400m, Dharun Ayyaswamy in 400m Hurdles and Arpinder Singh in triple Jump. Other athletes to look out for is Jinson Johnson in 800m, G Lakshmanan in 5000m and 10000m, Chetan B in high jump, PU Chitra in 1500m, Annu Rani in Javelin Throw , L Surya in 5000m & 10000m and Neena Pinto in Long Jump. In the last year held Asian Athletic Championship, India pipped China to achieve first position in medal tally for the first time in the history- India would like to emulate this feat in Asiad too. We can realistically hope for medals in the range of 15 to 20 with 4-7 Gold medals. Anything extra will be a bonanza.

Overall : 72 Gold 77 Silver 84Bronze Total 233 Medals 3rd Rank

Incheon 2014 : 2 Gold 3Silver 8Bronze Total 13 Medals

Jakarta 2018(Prediction) : 4 Gold 5Silver 10Bronze Total 19 Medals

BADMINTON

Set to emulate Gold Coast Success

India is achieving a phenomenal success at world level in Badminton recently but the performance in Asian Games leaves a lot to be desired. India last won an individual medal in 1982 Asian Games when Syed Modi won a bronze medal. In total, India has won 8 Bronze medals so far in Badminton – no Silver, no Gold! Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and K Shrikanth would like to change that and if they play to their potential, India can win 3-4 medals quite easily in Badminton. PV Sindhu is fresh from her exploits at World Championship and defeating two Japenese nemesis- Nozomi Okuhara & Akane Yamaguchi would have given her a lot of confidence. However, Indian girls have not found an answer for deceptive shots of Tai Tzu Ying till date. K Shrikanth has a good chance of winning at least a bronze. Indian men’s and women’s team also can make any team run for their money on their day. However, doubles team is the weak link in team’s event. If India is able to win Gold in this sport, it will come from either Saina Nehwal or PV Sindhu.

Overall : 0 Gold 0 Silver 8 Bronze Total 8 Medals 8th Rank

Incheon 2014 : 0 Gold 0Silver 1Bronze Total 1 Medal

Jakarta 2018(Prediction) : 0 Gold 1Silver 2Bronze Total 3 Medals

BOXING

Boxing has been a favourite event for Indians and they have managed to win 8 Gold medals and a total of 55 medals in this event so far. This time, it will be a challenge to win a Gold medal but the best bet is Gaurav Solanki. Apart from him, Vikas Yadav and Shiva Thapa can also manage to get their hand on yellow metal . whatever be the colour, Indian contingent can surely win 3-5 medals in Boxing though absence of Mary Kom is going to hurt the team.

Overall : 8 Gold 16 Silver 31 Bronze Total 55 Medals 8th Rank

Incheon 2014 : 1 Gold 0Silver 4Bronze Total 5 Medals

Jakarta 2018(Prediction) : 0 Gold 1Silver 3Bronze Total 4 Medals

To be continued..........................................