India at The Asian Games 2014
The Indian men’s hockey team will be participating in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, all thanks to the gold medal they won at the 17th Asian Games held in Incheon, South Korea. With 11 gold medals, 10 silver and 36 bronze India ranked 8th at the grand sports event that featured 439 events in 36 sports and disciplines.
While some argued that the country’s performance has not been as good as the previous edition of the games (India finished at 6th spot with 14 gold medals) others felt that the medals won in new categories such as compound archery and sailing was a new high.
Jitu Rai clinched a historic gold in the 50 m Pistol event on the opening day of the games. Mary Kom retained her world women’s boxing champion title. The unfortunate controversy of Sarita Devi overshadowed Mary Kom’s gold winning performance in the women’s flyweight (48–51 kg) division.
Goalkeeper Parattu Sreejesh, who saved two penalty attempts, said it was the start of a “new era” for the former masters of the game after the men’s hockey team clinched an emotional gold after 16 years, beating arch-rivals and defending champions Pakistan in a penalty shootout. Sania Mirza and Saketh Myneni added to the gold medal count.
Yogeshwar Dutt picked up the men’s 65 kg freestyle title. The squash men bagged gold after the women’s side settled for its first ever silver. The Indian team comprising of Rajat Chauhan, Sandeep Kumar and Abhishek Verma, beat the hosts 227–225 for the gold medal and won India’s first for archery! Priyanka Panwar, Tintu Luka, Mandeep Kaur and M.R. Poovamma won an easy race win the women’s 4 x 400 m relay in athletics.
Seema Punia, who won the gold in women’s discus told the media, “I worked really hard to defeat two Chinese for my gold,” she said. “It can be done if we train well.”
Sandeep Sejwal clinched a bronze medal in 50 m breaststroke swimming.
Varsha Gautham and Aishwarya Nedunchezhiyan claimed a bronze medal in the women’s 29er two person dinghy sailing event. n
