The Indian contingent really fulfills the ‘Is Baar Sau Paar’ goal as the country officially reached the milestone of 100 medals at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Saturday. India was already assured of a century medal tally on Friday, which ended with the country bagging 95 medals. More medals in compound archery (3), kabaddi (2), badminton (1) and men’s cricket (1) have already been secured. On Saturday, the final day of the Indian athletes’ events in Hangzhou, India added four more medals in archery while the kabaddi women’s team’s victory over Chinese Taipei in the final officially took India to the 100-medal mark.
This is the Kabaddi women’s team’s third title win in the continental showpiece. The team goes one better than second place at the last edition of the Games in Indonesia, meeting the country’s expectations to reach the historic three-digit mark for the first time. With the win of 100 medals, India has 25 gold, 35 silver and 40 bronze medals to its name. A few more medals have already been secured.
It was a very difficult performance for the Indian women as Chinese Taipei pushed them to the limit in the final and missed out on the top prize by just one point.
The Indian team showed nerves of steel in the last two attacks to turn the match in its favor.
India had a five-point lead going into half-time thanks to a super strike from Pooja, who was one of the stars of the intense title battle that also saw the team’s coach given a green card warning.
AND THAT’S MEDAL #100 FOR!!!
HISTORY IS MADE AS INDIA RECEIVES ITS MEDAL OF 100 AT THE 2022 ASIAN GAMES!
This is a testament to the power of dreams, dedication and teamwork of our athletes involved in achieving our goals #TEAMINDIA!
Let this achievement inspire generations to… pic.twitter.com/EuBQpvvVQ3
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) October 7, 2023
India had won 70 medals in the last edition in Indonesia where the country’s athletes won 16 gold, 23 silver and 31 bronze medals, registering their best ever performance.
Thanks to a splendid show by the shooters (22) and track and field athletes (29 medals), who contributed 51 medals, India had already surpassed its best ever show on Wednesday.
The Indian contingent won many surprise medals, the biggest being a bronze medal for the women’s table tennis team of Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee, who humiliated mighty China in the semi-finals.
Parul Chaudhary’s sensational sprint in the last 30 meters of the women’s 5000 meters will also be long remembered as the Meerut runner took gold by beating Japan’s Ririka Hironaka in a close finish.
Javelin thrower Kishore Kumar Jena’s astonishing throw of 86.77 metres, which gave him a brief lead over superstar Neeraj Chopra in the men’s javelin throw, was another unforgettable moment.
Later, Chopra won the gold, while Jena finished behind him and settled for a silver medal.
The historic bronze of canoeists Arjun Singh and Sunil Singh Salam in the men’s doubles 1000 meters, along with Ram Baboo and Manju Rani’s third place in the 35 km mixed race walk, were perfect examples that if athletes refuse to bow to the hardships that life entails, excelling in sports is possible.
With PTI inputs
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