All hail India's gold medal winners at the Asian Games - Part 2
As the curtains came down on the Games at the Hangzhou Stadium, India had reasons to look up: A historic end to its 2023 campaign with a haul of 107 medals, 28 of them in gold. In this second and concluding part of gold medal winners, Here's a shoutout to the Indians on the podium who made us proud
Image: Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Displaying stunning tenacity to power her last 30m to beat the Japanese several metres ahead of her, Parul Chaudhary grabbed the gold in the women's 5000m, thus becoming the first athlete in Asian Games history to win a medal in the women's 3000m steeplechase as well. Parul said, "In the last 50m, I thought that my government would give me a nice job. DySP (Deputy Superintendent of Police) is good."
Image: Dylan Martinez / ReutersBeing in an awful form the entire season didn't come in the way of Annu Rani. Producing a season-best effort of 62.92m in her fourth attempt, Annu became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games gold in Javelin Throw.
Image: Courtesy Hangzhou2022.cnIndian men's trap shooting team of Kynan Chenai, Zoravar Singh Sandhu & Prithviraj Toindaman bagged a historic gold, setting a new Games record with their combined score of 361 points.
Image: Jung Yeon-je / AFPOjas Deotale & Jyothi Surekha Vennam had to fight hard to win the gold medal in the compound mixed team event in archery. They defeated the South Korean pair in a close encounter by one point!
Image: Marko Djurica / ReutersDespite a blunder from the officials who failed to measure his first attempt that sailed over 85m, Neeraj Chopra overcame the upset in his rhythm to defend his gold in the Javelin Throw.
Image: Tingshu Wang / ReutersAfter breaking the Asian record at the World Championship, the quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob, and Rajesh Ramesh broke the national record to clinch the gold in the 4 x 400m Relay.
Image: Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFPThe Indian women's compound archery team, comprising Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Swami, and Parneet Kaur, edged out the Chinese Taipei team 230-229 in a hard-fought match to bag the gold at the podium.
Image: Gurinder Osan / AFPTeaming up with old friend Harinder Pal Sandhu, Dipika Pallikal had to overcome her motherhood blues and a roller-coaster final that pushed the duo to dig into their reserves and experience to survive crucial moments and win the Squash Mixed Doubles Gold.
Image: Shailendra Bhojak / PTIRenowned figures in the world of archery, Ojas Deotale, Abhishek Verma & Prathamesh Jawkar dominated the South Koreans from the start, winning the gold medal in the men's compound event.
Image: Tingshu Wang / ReutersIn a highly anticipated showdown, the Indian men's hockey team, led by Harmanpreet Singh, mauled defending champions Japan 5-1 to reclaim the Asian Games gold after nine years and qualify for next year's Paris Olympics.
Image: Jung Yeon-je / AFPWinning the gold medal in women's individual compound archery, Jyothi Surekha Vennam concluded a stellar performance, achieving a rare treble in gold medals, having already won titles in the women's and mixed team events at the Games.
Image: Jung Yeon-je / AFPOjas Deotale also completed a hattrick of gold medals, having already clinched the titles in men's and mixed team events. He won the gold medal in the men's individual compound archery event against his teammate in an all-Indian final.
Image: Han Haidan/CNS/VCG via Getty ImagesEqually matched, the Indian women's kabaddi team overcame a stiff challenge from Chinese Taipei, winning the gold by a point at the Games.
Image: Weixiang Lim / ReutersIndia's dynamic duo, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Korea to clinch India's first-ever badminton gold medal. The pair are now the new World No.1, having won the Asia Championships gold, Indonesia Super 1000, Korea Super 500 and Swiss Open Super 300 this year.
Image: Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFPWith the finals called off as rain played spoilsport, the Indian cricket team won the gold against Afghanistan due to its better T20 rankings.
Image: WANG Zhao / AFPIndian Kabaddi team emerged victorious from a controversial final, edging past Iran 33-29 to win the gold medal. The Kabaddi final had descended into chaos after play was suspended for over an hour as both teams disputed the application of the rule that governs the usage of the lobby area on the mat.
