India have participated in the Asian Games right since its inception in 1951. New Delhi played host to the first edition of the Asian Games. The Asiad has witnessed many a memorable performances from Indian athletes as they triumphed against the best of the largest continent on earth.India have shown that they are no pushovers to Asian powerhouses China, Japan and other countries when it comes to competing and winning medals on a regular basis. Be it team events or individual competition, Indian athletes have always strived to rise to the top of the table. Let us look at 10 best performances from an Indian contingent at this multi-sport event.
#10 1970 Bangkok Asian Games
India had a decent run in these games as they finished fifth in the medal table. India won 25 medals which included 6 golds. Mohinder Singh Gill (Triple Jump), Joginder Singh (Shot put), Praveen Kumar (Discus throw), and Kamaljeet Sandhu (400m) won gold in Athletics, while Hari Singh won gold in the Heavyweight (+81 kg category). Chandgi Ram clinched gold in the 100 Kg wrestling event.
Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
Athletics | 4 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
Boxing | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Football | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Hockey | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Swimming | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Wrestling | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
Yachting | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
TOTAL | 6 | 9 | 10 | 25 |
#9 1966 Bangkok Asian Games
The Indian contingent was banking on athletics to clinch them the most medals and the athletes delivered with five gold medals. However, India finished fifth at these games with a total of 21 medals including seven golds. Ajmer Singh (400m), Bhogeswar Barua (400m), Bhim Singh (High Jump), Joginder Singh (Shot put) and Praveen Kumar (Discus throw) claimed gold in athletics, while Hawa Singh (+81 Kg Boxing) and the Indian hockey team contributed two gold medals as well.
Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
Athletics | 5 | 1 | 5 | 11 |
Boxing | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Hockey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Tennis | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Wrestling | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
TOTAL | 7 | 3 | 11 | 21 |
#8 1998 Bangkok Asian Games
The last Asian Games before the millennium saw India finish in a disappointing ninth position with 35 medals in total. It included seven gold medals. Jyotirmoyee Sikdar won two gold medals in the 800m and the 1500m events. Geet Sethi and Ashok Shandilya paired up to win billiards gold in doubles, and Shandilya went on to win billiards gold in singles as well! Dingko Singh won a gold in the 54 Kg boxing event. The Indian hockey team and the Kabaddi team also clinched the yellow metal.
Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
India | 7 | 11 | 17 | 35 |
#7 2006 Doha Asian Games
India finished eighth in this edition of the Asiad with 10 gold medals.
Gold Medallists:
- Pankaj Advani (Cue Sports: Men English Billiard Singles)
- Koneru Humpy (Chess : Women's Rapid)
- Jaspal Rana (Shooting :Men's 25 m Centre Fire Pistol, Men's 25 m Standard Pistol)
- Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi (Tennis : Men's Doubles)
- Leander Paes and Sania Mirza (Tennis : Mixed Doubles)
- Athletics :: Women's 4x400 m Relay
- Sati Geetha
- Manjeet Kaur
- Chitra Kulathummuriyil
- Pinki Paramanik
- Kabaddi :: Men
- Shooting :: Men's 25 m Centre Fire Pistol Team
- Samresh Jung
- Vijay Kumar
- Jaspal Rana
- Chess :: Mixed Team's Classical
- Koneru Humpy
- Sasikiran Krishnan
- Pentyala Harikrishna
Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
Shooting | 3 | 5 | 6 | 14 |
Tennis | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
Chess | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Athletics | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
Cue Sports | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Kabaddi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Rowing | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
Wrestling | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
Sailing | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Golf | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Boxing | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Archery | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Equestrian | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Hockey | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Squash | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Wushu | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
TOTAL | 10 | 17 | 26 | 53 |
#6 1978 Bangkok Asian Games
Bangkok hosted this edition of the games after Singapore pulled out due to financial issues and Islamabad withdrew as well due to political situation prevailing in the region. India finished sixth in the medal tally with 11 golds. Archery and bowling made its debut in these games.
#5 2002 Busan Asian Games
India ended the Busan Games in eighth position with 10 gold medals.
Gold medallists:
- Kabaddi - Men Team
- Golf (Men's individual) - Shiv Kapur
- Shot put - Bahadur Singh Sagoo
- Discus throw - Neelam Jaswant Singh
- Long Jump - Anju Bobby George
- 200 meters - Saraswati Saha
- 800 meters - K. Mathews Beenamol
- 4 X 400m relay – Jincy Philip, Manjeet Kaur, Soma Biswas, K. M. Beenamol
- Tennis doubles men – Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi
- Billiards Doubles – Yasin Merchant, Rafat Habib
Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
India | 10 | 12 | 13 | 35 |
#4 1962 Jakarta Asian Games
India performed superbly in the Jakarta Games to finish third with a total of 52 medals which included 12 golds.
Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
India | 12 | 13 | 27 | 52 |
#3 1982 New Delhi Asian Games
India hosted the Asian Games for the second time after a gap of 31 years. It definitely showed in the performances of athletes as they finished fifth with a total of 57 medals, which included 13 golds.
Gold Medallists:
- Charles Borromeo - Men's 800m;
- MD Valsamma - Women's 400m hurdles;
- Chand Ram - Men's 20 km walk;
- Bahadur Singh - Men's Shot Put;
- Raghubir Singh - Men's Equestrian;
- Rupi Brar - Equestrian Tent Pegging;
- Men's Equestrian Team;
- Men's Golf Team;
- Bunny Laxman Singh - Men's Golf;
- Satpal Singh - Wrestling, Heavyweight;
- Kaur Singh - Boxing, Heavyweight;
- Women's Hockey Team;
- Tarapore and Karanja - Sailing, Enterprise Class;
Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
India | 13 | 19 | 25 | 57 |
#2 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games
The last edition of the Asian Games saw India finish in the sixth position on the medal table. The biggest positive was the performance of several youngsters as they took a place on the podium.
Gold Medallists:
Pankaj Advani – Men’s English Billiards Singles.
Bajrang Lal Takhar – Men’s Single Sculls
Ronjan Sodhi – Men’s Double Trap
Preeja Sreedharan – Women’s 10000m
Sudha Singh – Women’s 3000m Steeplechase
Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh – Men’s doubles Tennis
Somdev Devvarman – Men’s singles Tennis
Ashwini Akkunji – Women’s 400m hurdles
Joseph Abraham – Men’s 400m hurdles
Vikas Krishan Yadav – Men’s 60 Kg boxing
Indian men’s Kabaddi team
Indian women’s Kabaddi team
Manjeet Kaur, Ashwini Akkunji, Sini Jose, Mandeep Kaur – Women 4X 400m relay
Vijender Singh – Men’s 75 Kg boxing
Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
Athletics | 5 | 2 | 5 | 12 |
Boxing | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
Tennis | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Kabaddi | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Shooting | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
Rowing | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Cue Sports | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Archery | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Wushu | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Golf | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Sailing | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Squash | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Wrestling | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Chess | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Roller Sports | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Swimming | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Gymnastics | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Hockey | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
TOTAL | 14 | 17 | 34 | 65 |
#1 1951 New Delhi Asian Games
India hosted the first edition of the Asian Games in 1951. India finished in the second position in New Delhi with a total of 51 medals, which included 15 golds.
Gold Medallists:
Lavy Pinto – Men’s 100m
Lavy Pinto – Men’s 200m
Ranjit Singh – Men’s 800m
Nikka Singh – Men’s 1500m
A.S.Bakshi, Govind Singh, Balwant Singh – Men’s 4 X 400m relay
Chota Singh – Men’s Marathon
Mahabir Prasad – Men’s 10000m walk
Bakhtawar Singh – Men’s 50Km walk
Madan Lal – Men’s Shot put
Makhan Singh – Men’s Discus throw
K P Thakkar – Men’s 3m springboard diving
K P Thakkar – Men’s 10m platform
Indian Football Men’s team
Sachin Nag – Men’s 100m freestyle swimming
India Water Polo Men’s team
Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
India | 15 | 16 | 20 | 51 |