Asian Games 2018: India aims high

NP NEWS NETWORK

JAKRAT

Asian Games is the second largest international sporting event in the world after the Olympics.
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Asiad is a multinational competition of Asian countries which is held once in every four years and is based on the lines of the Olympics.
Jakarta is hosting the Asian Games for the second time. The first time was in 1962. The 18th Asian Games will start on August 18 and will end on September 2. For the first time in the history of the Asiad, the games have been organized in two different cities. In this year’s Asiad, 45 countries will participate in 36 games and 572 players will fight for the medals.

In the eighteenth Asiad 58 sports, 465 medals will be held, each player will prove his skill and move to the medal.

India’s performance in the Asiad

In the history of the Asiad, India has earned 616 medals, out of which, 139 are gold, 178 are silver and 299 are bronze medals.

India and Asiad

India organized the first Asiad. It was the success of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The purpose of this was to promote reconciliation among Asian countries and to create a strong feeling in these Asian countries. In 1982, when the Indira Gandhi was the prime minister India again became the host for Asian Games, which was held in Delhi. That time India won 13 gold medals.

Gold in Hockey?

In the Champions Trophy, Indian Hockey team has to remain satisfied on the runner-up spot. But Men’s Hockey team will be targeting at gold in Asiad 2018. If this happens then Indian Hockey team will not be playing the qualifiers 2020 Tokyo Olympics. India is one of the strongest hockey team and if Indian teams return without gold from Asiad games it will be a shock.

Track and field

Indian athletes on track and field have always been successful in Asian Games. India has so far won 282 medals in Track and field in the Asian Games out of which, 74 are gold, 96 silver and 112 are bronze. At this year, the expected gold medallist is Neeraj Chopra, Divya Chand, Hima Das, Khushbir Kaur, and Seema Punia.

Wrestling

In the previous tournaments in Wrestling, India has got 1 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze medals. However, medals are expected from Sushil Kumar, Bajrang Punia, Vineesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik.

Shooters To Target Gold

In 2014, India earned 1 gold, 1 silver, and a bronze medal in Asiad. However, it is expected the shooters will perform better at this time. 16 men and 12 women shooter from India will participate in the shooting. Shooters Manu Bhaskar, Will Heena Sidhu, Rahi Sarnobat, Sanjeev Rajput and Ravikumar best quality shooters.

‘Gold Shuttle’?

In the previous tournament, India had to win a single bronze medal in Badminton. At this time, Saina Nehwal, P. V. Indus, Kidambi Srikanth, H. S. Pranoy is expected to do great. India’s 10 men and 10 women’s are going to participate in badminton competition. Asian players dominate in badminton. It is interesting to see if Sindhu will overcome the Final Chocker tag. China, Thailand, and Japan are also in the midst of the challenge to put the team together.

Good performance in other sports.

India is expecting a gold medal in squash, tennis, and archery. Leander Paes has withdrawn from the tournament thus, other players will have to shine. Deepa Karmakar in Gymnastics, Dattu Bhokanal in Rowing, Swarn Singh and Satishkumar Shivalingam in weightlifting, Vikas Thakur and Achanta Sharath Kamal in table tennis, Saiyian, Manika Batra, Moma Das and Saurabh Ghosal in squash, Harinderpal Sindhu, Joshna Chinappa, Deepika Pallikal, while Archery Atanu Das, Abhishek Verma, Deepika Kumari, Laxmirani Mei are expecting a medal.