Best Asiad haul brings in a new dawn for India

WATERSHED GAMES Gold tally of 15 matches 1951’s; total 69 medals beat 2010 mark

KOLKATA: At one level, connecting Amit Panghal with Pranab Bardhan and Shibnath Dey Sarkar could seriously test the theory of six degrees of separation. Panghal is a soldier for whom boxing is more than a sport; Bardhan and Dey Sarkar are partners in bridge, a sport as far removed as can be from boxing. Panghal is 22, Bardhan a grandfather at 60.

But in Jakarta on Saturday, the three were united in a golden harvest at the Asian Games, their first ever. Their efforts took India’s gold haul to 15. The only other time that happened was when Jawaharlal Nehru was prime minister and independent India was four years old. The men’s hockey team defeated Pakistan 2-1 in the bronze medal playoff, taking the medal haul to 69, four more than its previous best that came in 2010 in Guangzhou.

This, despite India floundering in kabaddi, where it seemed all they needed to win gold was show up, not being able to defend the men’s hockey title, losing the women’s hockey final, and twotime Olympic wrestling medallist Sushil Kumar exiting in the first round of the men’s 74kg.

So, is the future’s looking good? Maybe. Do we have a reason to look east two years from now to Tokyo? Perhaps. Has this been India’s breakthrough Asian Games? one certainly hopes so.

Not many outside the bridge circuit would have known Bardhan and Dey Sarkar. Not many would have had a clue as to why Pincky Balhara and Malaprabha Yallapa Jadhav were in Jakarta and whether kurash was a sport. Or that Manjit Singh had opted not to see his newborn in his quest for the 800m gold. They wouldn’t have heard about a village called Kalina in Meerut till a farmer’s son, Saurabh Chaudhary, 16, won the 10m air pistol gold with monklike calm reminiscent of Abhinav Bindra’s disposition when he won the men’s 10m air rifle gold in the 2008 Olympics.

But like the gold winning men’s bridge pair, the girls who won a silver and a bronze in kurash, Singh and Chaudhary traded anonymity for what, hopefully, is more than 15 seconds of fame, Neeraj Chopra, Swapna Burman, Jinson Johnson, Rahi Sarnobat, Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan added to their growing reputation by becoming gold medallists.