India won 107 medals—28 gold, 38 silver, and 41 bronze—at the 2023 Asian Games, its best showing ever at the continental event. The country’s previous best show was at Jakarta-Palembang 2018, where it won 70 medals.
The unprecedented three-digit haul also brought about countless memories to cherish. From the exhilarating victories on the athletics track to the skillful manoeuvres in other sporting arenas, Sportstar takes a look at 10 moments that have rightfully earned a place in the annals of the Games’ history.
Continued from the Part 1: Top 10 moments from Asian Games 2023
6. A kabaddi double
Kings and queens of the world: The Indian men’s kabaddi team and women’s kabaddi teams pose with the gold medal after winning their respective finals at the 19th Asian Games, in Hangzhou, China. | Photo Credit: PTI
It was always going to be close, but nobody could have predicted how close. While winning and losing are part of sports, the loss of gold in kabaddi felt personal, and India was determined to reclaim what it believed was always its own. But even the teams would not have expected the dramatic finishes.
The men’s team steamrolled every opponent till the final, just like it was expected to.
But then, up against Iran, it was a tight game that saw both sides going ahead alternately. And with 65 seconds left and the scores level, official blundering, farcical refereeing, and team protests held up the game for more than an hour, making it the most dramatic title clash in any sport here.
For referees to get confused on whether to follow international rules or an experimental one introduced in the Pro Kabaddi League — a private, India-specific venture — says a lot about their competence. But all these details came later; at that moment, for those watching from the outside, it was simply bizarre chaos on the mat, protests from either side over scores, and no clarity on who was demanding what and why.
With officials from the international and Asian federations getting involved, administrative politics and power play coming to the fore, and anyone walking up to the jury for a dekko at the replays, it looked nothing like an Asian Games final between two powerhouses.
After all that drama, the final moments of the match never felt like a nail-biting thriller, despite the closeness of the scoreline. And when the gold was finally won, there was more relief than anything else. The women had their own reality check in the very first game, held to a competitive 34-34 draw by Chinese Taipei.
In hindsight, that was the best thing to happen to the team, as it went about dominating the rest of the field before facing off against Taipei again in the final and edging ahead by a single point.
That the women brought the 100th medal for India at the Games made it extra special, although the players wished it had come against Iran to make the success even sweeter. But it was gold nevertheless.
7. Eyes always on the gold
Etched in gold: Indian team’s Rajesh Ramesh, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi, Amoj Jacob and Muhammed Anas Yahiya during the presentation ceremony of the Men’s 4X400m Relay Final event at the 19th Asian Games. | Photo Credit: PTI
Not often do Indian athletes go into a competition as favourites and record holders. Neeraj Chopra is one of them, but that is expected now.
At the Asian Games, there was another group of Indians who entered with the swag of knowing they were the best — the men’s 4x400m relay team.
Just over a month ago, the quartet of Mohd. Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Mohd. Ajmal, and Rajesh Ramesh smashed the Asian record with a sub-three-minute race in the heats of the World Championships, forcing even the mighty USA to appreciate the effort. They did it again in the finals, although without a medal, but it did make a statement ahead of the Games.
It wasn’t easy in Hangzhou either, but the Indians knew what they were capable of. While Anas and Amoj turned out for both the heats and the final, Nihal William and Mijo Kurien ran in the heat.
The target was clear: gold.
Timings were secondary. The four men stuck to the job at hand, one day at a time — qualify in good time, then go for gold in the final. And if they had broken yet another record, that would have been a bonus. The plan worked, and India qualified in first place in 3:03.81.
The final got better as the four shaved off more than two seconds together. The gold was home, and in some style, Ramesh sent out a flying kiss with the baton towards the Indians in the stands after crossing the finish line.
Such was the confidence level that even Anas completing the first leg in fifth place was not a worry, with Amoj running ahead into the top spot and the other two ensuring India stayed there.
A time of 3:01.58 to finish on top might not seem too far from Qatar’s Games record of 3:00.56, but they admitted later that if they had tried to go for the timings and not achieved that, it might have led to even the gold slipping away under pressure.
The motto was ‘eyes always on the gold’, they declared. They never blinked.
8. A clinical display
Top of the world: India’s Sift Kaur Samra after winning the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions event with a world record to boot. | Photo Credit: PTI
India already had two gold medals in shooting and four overall at the Asian Games by the time Sift Kaur Samra waved to the crowd at the Hangzhou shooting range ahead of the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions event. Of these, though, just one — in the team dressage — had come in an Olympic category. While the moment was historic, it came in an event that didn’t have the strongest field.
However, the same cannot be said of the women’s 50m 3P event. Standing alongside Samra was Zhang Qiongyue, who had just won gold at the 2023 World Championships. She went into the competition as the favourite. Samra, who finished fifth in Baku in the same World Championships where Qiongyue had won, showed no signs of being fazed, though.
The Indian first finished second in qualifying with 594 points, giving up first place to China’s Xia Siyu only on the basis of fewer inner tens. In the final, though, she wouldn’t come close to being caught. Samra took the early lead at the end of the kneeling event and held it all the way to the end.
While Qiongyue struggled to stay within range, Samra ruthlessly kept extending her lead. Eventually, she was so far ahead of the rest of the field that she could arguably even afford to have missed one shot. Not that she ever did. In her last three shots, Samra first scored two near-perfect 10.8s before closing the show with a 10.2. Qiongyue finished a distant second with a final shot of just 9.9.
The 22-year-old, who once wanted to be a doctor, had just put together a clinical display of shooting. She finished with a score of 469.6 — a mammoth 7.3 ahead of the reigning world champion. Samra’s score wasn’t just incredible at the Asian level. In a sport where medals are often determined by fractions of a point, Samra’s total smashed the old world record (467) by 2.6 points.
The performance has set a template that other Indians will hope to match in the days to come.
9. Shaking a leg
Making it memorable: H. S. Prannoy became just the second Indian men’s singles player to medal at the Asian Games and the first since the legendary Syed Modi in 1982. | Photo Credit: PTI
The DJ at Hangzhou’s Binjiang Gymnasium couldn’t have chosen a better song for the moment. As H. S. Prannoy ripped off his T-shirt and threw his arms in the air after finally beating former All England champion Lee Zii Jia in the quarterfinal of the men’s singles competition at the Asian Games, the speakers inside the arena belted out the title song from the movie Dangal.
The Amir Khan-starrer had been a runaway success in Chinese theatres; at one time, it was the highest-grossing foreign-made film in the country.
There couldn’t have been a more appropriate soundtrack to celebrate another Indian’s success in China.
By beating Lee, Prannoy had become just the second Indian men’s singles player to medal at the Asian Games and the first since the legendary Syed Modi in 1982.
It took a Herculean effort to replicate Modi’s accomplishment from 41 years ago. Prannoy had come back from a significant deficit to take the first game, then had two match points in the second, which Lee, a former world number 2, saved to force a decider.
From there, it was the Malaysian who had the edge, holding two match points of his own. This time it was the Indian’s turn to claw back out of the jaws of defeat. He saved those two match points before setting up one of his own and converting it to claim the victory and assure himself a bronze medal.
The match was brutal for both players. Prannoy had long been seen as a player who was capable of pulling off upsets but was unable to win the matches that mattered. He had more than enough reason to justify a loss in Hangzhou. He had been battling a niggle in his back, and indeed, once the shirt was off, you could see the heavy strapping all over it.
That wouldn’t stop him, though. As he swayed to the beats of Dangal, Prannoy proved he is well and truly able to dance in the big leagues.
10. Roar of the underdogs
The rise of the Mukherejees: India’s Sutirtha Mukherjee (L) and Ayhika Mukherjee in action against Korean pair of Suyong Cha and Sugyong Pak in the women’s doubles semifinal match of table tennis at the 19th Asian Games. | Photo Credit: PTI
There’s more than a touch of irony in the fact that one of India’s greatest sporting moments, not just at the Asian Games but arguably in recent years, would ultimately be rewarded with ‘just’ a bronze medal.
To beat any Chinese player in an international table tennis match is hard. To beat China in a medal match at a major competition is harder. To beat a Chinese pair who have just been crowned world champions in a medal match in China is almost unthinkable.
To say that Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee were underdogs in their doubles quarterfinal match against China’s Chen Meng and Wang Yidi would be an understatement. They were massive underdogs. Meng is a two-time Olympic champion, and partnering Yidi, had just won gold in the World Championships.
As world number 1, the Chinese duo, who already had a gold medal in the women’s team event, were expected to brush aside the Indian challenge in the quarterfinal of the Asian Games without much fuss. They were expected to be too fast, too skilled, and eventually too good for the two girls from Naihati, West Bengal.
As it turns out, it was the Chinese, who were left flummoxed by the Indians, who have only been playing together for less than a year. While Sutirtha usually plays with a soft-pimpled rubber, Ayhika relies on her uncanny usage of long-pimpled rubbers. It usually means Ayhika controls the game and sets up the point, and Sutirtha, with her powerful forehand, finishes the key points off.
The roles were reversed for this one match. While Sutirtha played the waiting game for most of the match, it was Ayhika who executed the aggressor’s role. The Chinese had no answers. Even coach Ma Lin, who has three Olympic gold medals of his own, had a wry smile on his face.
The two Indians didn’t just creep over the finish line, they bullied the Chinese pair over the course of four games.
While the Indians wouldn’t go past the next hurdle, losing to a North Korean pair, they had made a big enough statement on the 9-by-5-foot table that would echo well beyond the Games.
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