India dropped two places in the 17th Asian Games medals’ tally in comparison to the last edition of the Asian Games in Guangzhou where it had finished sixth with 65 medals against 57 this year. While India lost ground in some strong disciplines, there was significant improvement in others and medals were won in some new disciplines like compound archery, women's 20km walk and sailing. AMIT CHAUDHARY, in Incheon, brings to you the discipline-wise analysis of India’s 2014 Asian Games campaign
Athletics
The medal count in the track and field event may have increased (from 12 to 13) but the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) should be worried about the fact that there were only two gold medals this time while we got five in Guangzhou, China four years back. The quantity has surely increased but there was a decline in the quality as a few big names bit the dust in the 17th Asian Games.
The women's 4x400 metres relay team comprising Tintu luka, Mandeep Kaur, M R Poovamma and Priyanka Panwar, was the only constant for India in the track and field event as they successfully defended their Asian Games title with a new record. The Indian quartet completed the race in three minutes and 28.68 seconds to break the record which set by them only at the 2010 Guangzhou Games.
The other gold medal was captured by Seema Punia, who was left out of the previous two Asian Games for different reasons. She clinched a gold medal in the women's discus throw and proved a point.
The upgradation of Manju Bala’s medal from bronze to silver and Khusbir Kaur’s silver medal winning performance in the 20km walk increased the silver count by two.While Manju, Naveen Kumar (men's 3000m steeplechase), Rajiv Arokia (men's 400m), Inderjeet Singh (men's shot put) and Annu Rani (women's javelin throw) gave India unexpected medals, triple jumper Arpinder Singh, who was the season leader coming to the Asian Games, was the biggest disappointment.
The much-hyped Vikas Gowda also failed in his bid to capture the gold in the men's discus throw after doing so at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Renjith Maheshwary (men's triple jump), Mayookha Johny (women's triple and long jump) and Om Prakash Karhana (men's shot put) were cleared for the Games at 11th hour after undergoing selection trials and the trio flopped miserably, a development which may invite criticism of Athletics Federation of India for sending them at all.
Hockey
India hit triple bonanza in hockey. They regained the Asian Games gold after 16 years, beat arch-rivals Pakistan in the final after 48 years and booked an Olympic berth almost two years in advance. It was way back in 1966 when India defeated Pakistan in the Asian Games final. It was a significant victory for the Indian team because they had lost to Pakistan in the league stage a week before the final.
The action-filled match lived up to the hype as both the teams played attacking hockey.India, however, came out victorious through penalty shootout (4-2) as both the teams were locked at 1-1 after the regulation time. India’s goalkeeper P R Sreejesh emerged as the hero of the match as he stopped two Pakistani players from scoring a goal in the shootout.
Women’s team, however, couldn’t reach the final but beat Japan for the bronze medal.
Rowing
Five medals, including Bajrang lal Thakhar’s gold, in the previous edition had set up a tough task for the Indian rowers to better or equalize number of medals in this edition. As Thakhar couldn’t qualify for the men’s single sculls event this year, Sawarn Singh did his best to prove that he was equally capable but missed the gold in the last 200 metres and had to settle for the bronze. As a result India finished with just three bronze medals this time.
SQUASH
Saurav Ghosal missed the historic men’s singles gold medal by a whisker but a couple of days later he led his team comprising Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu and Mahesh Kumar Mangaonkar to first-ever squash gold in the Asian Games. Though the team gold couldn’t ease the pain of singles loss, he was a relieved. In the women’s events, India got a bronze through Dipika Pallikal in the singles event before the team comprising Joshana Chinappa, Anaka Alankamony & Aparajitha Balamurukan won silver. It was India’s best performance so far as they won medals in all four categories.
Wushu
There was a whiff of politics at wushu as well. India’s Narender Grewal looked a better player throughout the semi bout as he threw Jean Claude to the ground twice in the first round and knocked him off the platform in the second but judges ruled in favour of the Filipino. India appealed but lost and got bronze. Another bronze came in the women’s category as Yumnam Sanathoi Devi lost the semi. The two bronze ensured that wushu players managed to equal the two medals they bagged in the 2010 edition in Guangzhou, China where India won a silver and a bronze.
SHOOTING
Jitu Rai’s 7 consecutive medals and Abhinav Bindra’s retirement were the highlights of the shooting event. Nepal-born Jitu, who has made UP his home, gave India its first Gold (50m pistol) of these Games. He also added a bronze medal in 10m air pistol team event with Samresh Jung and Prakash Nanjappa. Bindra, who announced his retirement from the Asian Games a day before his event, won two bronze medals in 10m air rifle – individual and team that included Ravi Kumar and Sanjeev Rajput. Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar, who delayed his cervical spondylitis treatment to take part in the Asian Games, was in with a chance to convert the eventual silver medal in the team event into gold with a perfect 10 shot. But he could only manage an eight.
ARCHERY
Compound archers salvaged the Indian campaign at the event after the recurve team failed to impress. The men’s trio of Abhishek Verma, Rajat Chauhan and Sandeep Kumar scripted history by winning first-ever compound archery gold medal by shocking home favourites South Korea. Verma later on won a silver medal too to go with two bronze medals by women’s in team – Purvasha Shende, Surekha Vennam, Trisha Deb – and individual – Trisha – events.
Sailing
Indian women sailors Varsha Gautham and Aishwarya Nedunchezhiyan clinched a bronze in the 29er class competition despite being disqualified in the 7th race of the sailing competition. The duo finished 3rd in the 7th race but were disqualified later to pick up 7 penalty points after the Malaysian protest against their maneouvre was upheld by organisers at Wangsan Sailing Marina.
Wrestling
Olympic bronze medalist Yogeshwar Dutt ended 28-year gold drought at the Asian Games when he beat Tajikistan’s Yusupov Zalimkhan by a narrow 1-0 margin. In all five medals were won by the wrestlers including two by women – Vinesh Phogat and Geetika Jakhar. Sushil Kumar, who won silver at the london Olympics, did not participate here. Narsingh Pancham Yadav, who was included in place of Sushil, could only manage silver.
Tennis
Five medals including a gold in mixed doubles look like a good performance considering most of the main players pulled out of the Asian Games to concentrate on their international rankings. Sania Mirza, who changed her decision of not participating in these Games, helped India’s tennis team won their only gold (mixed doubles) here.
Boxing
This edition’s boxing competition would be remembered for blatant refereeing errors that robbed many boxers of a fair shot at the gold medal. All the refereeing errors, interestingly, benefitted only the South Korean boxers. In one of such cases, probably the most blatant of all, India’s laishram Sarita Devi was denied a clear victory over South Korean’s Jina Park. It was followed by a lot of hue and cry as Sarita refused to accept the bronze medal and after receiving the medal in hands, she gifted it to Park, who in turn left it at the podium.
Sarita’s action was severely criticized by the Incheon Asian Games Organising Committee and referred to Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) for further action. However, there wasn’t any action against the Manipuri boxer as an apology was submitted to the OCA which handed over the bronze medal to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Meanwhile, five-time world champion and 2012 Olympic bronze medallist MC Mary Kom became the first Indian women boxer to win the gold medal in the Asian Games.
Defending champion Vikas Krishan had to satisfy himself with a bronze this time while Satish Kumar became the first boxer from Uttar Pradesh to win a boxing medal (bronze) in an international competition. Pooja Rani also won a bronze for India.
Kabaddi
Indian men retained their supremacy in the sport by edging out Iran 27-25 in the fiercely-fought Final which got them their 7th consecutive Gold medal. The women’s team also faced a stiff challenge from Iran before they defended their title and earned their 2nd successive Gold at Asian Games. However, the finals were a reality check for India, creator of the sport. They were in shock to see Iran doing so well in kabaddi. The fitter and faster Iranians almost toppled India. There wasn’t much to separate India and Iran in the final. India surely need to improve their fitness if they want to remain at the top of the kabaddi world.
Badminton
Disappointment is the word to describe India’s badminton campaign at the Incheon Asian Games. They didn’t lose, they surrendered. The big names Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Parupalli Kashyap along with some upcoming players could bring just one bronze medal. The women’s team comprising Ashwini Ponnappa, Chandrika Thulasi, Tanvi lad, Pradnya Gadre, Nehwal, Sindhu and Sikki Reddy managed to reach the semi-finals to secure a bronze. India’s chances in the women’s doubles were affected by Jwala Gutta’s last-minute pull out.