India’s performance at the ongoing Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta has been nothing short of splendid, with the country currently holding its place in the tournament at #9 with a mixed bag of 41 medals in total.
The raking in of medals commenced on Day 1 and began with Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar bagging a bronze medal in the mixed rifle event, followed by wrestler Bajrang Punia winning India’s first Gold medal at the tournament as he won the 65kg category.
The tricolour continued to soar high and proud on Day 2 as well, when shooters Deepak Kumar and Lakshay won a silver medal each in the tournament’s 10m air rifle and men’s trap respectively. Following this, India’s Vinesh Phogat took the Indian gold medal count to two, as she defeated Japan’s Yuki in the 50kg women’s wrestling category, making her the first Indian woman wrestler to a gold at the Asian Games.
Day 3 at the tournament saw some unbelievable action, beginning with 16-year-old shooter Saurabh clinching a gold in the men’s 10m air pistol event with a record score of 240.7, followed by his compatriot Abhishek Verma winning the bronze in the same event with a score of 219.3. Shooter Sanjeev Rajput was next to bag a silver medal in the Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions, shortly followed by an unexpected bronze medal in the much-lesser known sport of Sepak Takraw. The last medal of the day came from wrestler Divya Kakran, who won the bronze in Women’s 68kg Freestyle category.
Day 4 once again saw history being made, this time with the shooters at the helm. Rahi Sarnobat became the first Indian woman shooter to bag a gold medal at the Asian Games as she defeated Thailand’s Naphaswan Yangpaiboon in the 25m pistol event. India then went to make its best ever medal haul in the Wushu Sanda competition at the tournament, bagging four bronze medals, followed by three bronze medals won by Santosh Kumar, Surya Bhanu Pratap Singh, and Narender Grewal in their respective weight categories.
On Day 5, India won three more medals at the tournament, thereby taking their total medal tally to 18. Ankita Raina earned a bronze medal early in the day in Tennis, followed by 15-year-old shooter Shardul Vihan clinching the silver medal in the Men’s Double Trap final. The last medal of the day came as little bit of a surprise for Indian fans as the Indian men’s team were knocked out of the Kabaddi semi-finals by Iran, and had to settle for bronze.
Day 6 saw a huge haul of medals by players representing the tricolour. Three medals were won early on in the day by the Indian rowers. Dushyant Chauhan bagged a bronze in men’s Lightweight Single Sculls, followed by another bronze by Rohit Kumar and Bhagwan Singh in the Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls event. Next,
Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan won the Gold in the Men’s Doubles in tennis, followed by the Indian Women’s Kabbadi losing to Iran like their male counterparts, and having to settle for a silver medal.
Heena Sidhu won the bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol Women’s event, followed by the last medal of the day coming in from Prajnesh Gunneswaran in the form of a another bronze, after he lost his men’s singles tennis semi-final.
Day 7 at the Asian Games tournament began with 23-year-old Tajinderpal Singh Toor winning his maiden Gold medal in Shot Put by setting a national record distance of 20.75m, followed by three bronze medals in squash, which is the best performance by the country in a singles squash event.
On Day 8, sprinters Muhammed Anas, Hima Das and Dutee Chand bagged silver medals in their respective athletics categories, followed by the country winning two bronze medals after the men and mixed teams lost their respective semi-final matches.
Later in the day, India’s Fouaad Mirza went on to win a silver medal at the Equestrian Jumping Final.
On Day 9, the Indian athletes won three silver medals: In women’s long jump, Varakil finished behind Vietnam’s Thi Thu Thao Bui, and Sania Nehwal had to compromise for a bronze after losing 17-21, 14-21 to World No.1 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan in the women’s singles semi-final. But it was current Asian champion Neeraj Chopra who stole the show by creating a new national record and winning gold in the Men’s Javelin category.