Indian contingent banks on young guns to boost Asiad medal tally
KOLKATA: Whether or not 2020 will be India’s breakthrough year at the Olympic Games (in Tokyo) will depend on the performance of the 570strong Indian contingent at the Asian Games which begin in Jakarta and Palembang on Saturday.
From India’s perspective, what could make the Games interesting, is a bunch of young sportspersons, the oldest of whom is 20. Many experts say that if they do well in the Games, shooters Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala, runner Hima Das and javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, could bring India glory in Tokyo.
“Manu is no longer a junior shooter, she is an experienced performer,” said Anjali Bhagwat, a former world No. 1 in 10m air rifle, the same event where Bhaker, 16, has already made a name in, recently.
Bhanwala, also 16, is a Commonwealth Games gold medallist in the 25m rapid fire pistol.
Hima, 18, put Dhing in Assam on the world map by becoming the first Indian to win a track gold at a world junior event. And Chopra, 20, hurled the javelin 87.43m in May, the best by an Asian this year, and will be the flag bearer for the Indian contingent.
At one level, the metric to watch will be the number of medals and India will need to do better than its best showing at the Games, 65 medals at Guangzhou, China in 2010. At the last Games, at Incheon, Korea, it won 57 (eighth overall). And the first time the Games were held in Jakarta, in 1962, India won 52 medals and finished third.
At another, the measure will be India’s performance in specific events.
For instance, India’s Asian Games tally has always been boosted by medals in athletics, where it has won none at the Olympics. Indeed, the competitive field (Asian countries in the Asian Games; Commonwealth nations at the Commonwealth Games; and pretty much everyone at the Olympics) explains why India does best at the Commonwealth Games, not so badly at the Asian Games, and pretty poorly at the Olympics.
Still, the number of Indians in the top 10 in various disciplines is increasing — and whether or not they win a medal at any of the big events is purely a function of the performance of the day.
At these Asian Games, the compound archers (the women are world No.1 and the men are the defending champions ), the men’s hockey team, which won gold in the 2014 Games, the men’s kabaddi side that goes into competition having won gold in the past seven editions, the women’s 4x400m relay quartet and the squash contingent where Saurav Ghoshal is seeking to sign off on a high are India’s best bets.
In addition, India could do well in tennis, where, as Mahesh Bhupathi said recently, India always return with a bagful of medals. The presence of seasoned campaigners such as PV Sindhu (badminton), double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar (wrestling, 74kg) and Seema Punia (women’s discus) will also help India’s cause in the respective events.