India broke all records to win more than 100 medals at Asian Games

October 7, 2023, is a historic day in Indian sports, as it marked a significant achievement for the country, reaching a milestone of 100 medals at the 19th Asian Games. This remarkable feat was achieved on the penultimate day of the Games, as India’s participation concluded on that day. The assurance of crossing the elusive three-figure mark in the medal tally came from various sports, including wrestling, archery (recurve), hockey, sepaktakraw, bridge, and with medals confirmed by the men’s cricket and both kabaddi teams. However, the official confirmation of reaching the 100-medal mark came on Saturday.

Starting the day at 95, India got their assured five medals – four in archery and one in kabaddi – to officially reach their century. Needless to say, this is also India’s best-ever medal haul at the Asian Games. They beat their previous best at the last edition in Jakarta by a huge margin. India had won 70 medals in 2018.

India have so far won 25 gold medals, 35 silver medals and 40 bronze medals.

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India’s Historic Achievement: Surpassing 100 Medals at Asian Games

This is also only the second time India have won more than 100 medals in any of the three major Games – The Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. They had won 101 medals in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. But India are set to breach that mark comfortably as three more medals are guaranteed to come as the day progresses. And if the wrestlers add to the tally then India can well go past 105 medals by the end of the day.

That’s a mammoth jump from two decades ago when India returned with 36 medals from the 2002 Busan Asian Games. In 2006 in Doha, India’s tally was 53 and four years later in Guangzhou it was 65. There was a slight drop at the 2014 Incheon Asiad, which fetched just 57 medals before India were back on track at Jakarta and Palembang with 70 medals five years ago, their best-ever tally then.

Archery Excellence and Kabaddi Triumph

The day started with Aditi Swami Gopichand getting bronze in women’s compound archery by beating Indonesia’s Ratih Zilizati Fadhly. Jyothi Surekha Vennam then got India another gold in the same event. She beat her formidable South Korean opponent So Chaewon 149-145.

A few minutes later, it was an all-Indian final in the men’s compound archery with the experienced Abhishek Verma going up against young Ojas Pravin Deotale. In a battle between the master and apprentice, it was the 21-year-old reigning world champion Deotale who emerged winner by two points. But what this meant was India’s medal tally reached 99 with another gold and silver in archery.

India achieved the 100-medal milestone with a thrilling victory in the women’s kabaddi final against Chinese Taipei. Remarkably, athletics and shooting, with their record-breaking hauls of 29 and 22 medals, respectively, have played a pivotal role in India’s historic achievement. This impressive performance bodes well for India as they prepare for the upcoming Paris Olympics next year.

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