Five oldest Indian athletes in Asian Games 2023

These athletes prove that age is no bar.

India's contingent for the Asian Games 2023 is 655 members strong. The number is the sixth highest of the nations participating at the continental showdown. The athletes selected to represent the nation at the Asian Games will compete in 40 different sports. The contingent contains 355 men and 300 women. Athletics has the highest number of competitors (68), while football has 44 (22 each team).

In this article, we take a look at the top five oldest Indian athletes from the contingent to participate in the Asian Games 2023.

Seema Punia

Seema Punia is already a two-time Asian Games medallist. The 40-year-old discuss throw athlete won gold at the 17th edition in Incheon and bronze at the previous edition held in Jakarta. Apart from the two Asian Games medals, Seema Punia has also won four Commonwealth Games medals in her career.

At the 19th edition, Seema Punia will be competing at the Huangzhou Olympics Sports Centre Stadium on October 1.

Sharath Kamal Achanta

Sharath Kamal, 41 years old, after his heroics at the Commonwealth Games 2022, was awarded the highest sporting honour of the country last year, the Khel Ratna. Sharath is coming to the Asian Games on the back of a bronze medal showing, along with the men's team at the Asian Championships 2023.

Sharath Kamal will be playing in three different events - the men's singles, the men's team event and the men's doubles event. The men's team has already lost to South Korea in the quarter-finals, while the 41-year-old will play in the singles and the doubles event from September 28. Sharath Kamal is partnering with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran.

Rohan Bopanna

Rohan Bopanna has been making news for his performances in 2023 while partnering with Matthew Ebden and Sania Mirza. The 43-year-old lost in the finals of the US Open 2023 while partnering the Australian and lost the Australian Open 2023 finals while partnering Sania Mirza. He has also lost the final of a Masters 1000 event, the Madrid Open 2023 and finally tasted success in the Indian Wells 2023.

At the Asian Games 2023, Rohan Bopanna competed in the men's doubles and the mixed doubles events. While he has already made an exit from the men's doubles event after losing in Round 3 while partnering Yuki Bhambri, he is still alive in the mixed doubles event and will face a Japanese pair on September 27 in Round 3. He is partnering with Rutuja Bhosale in the event.

Shiv Chawrasia

Shiv Chawrasia is a 45-year-old Indian golfer. He competes on the Asian Tour and the European Tour and has six and four wins in them respectively. The Indian Golf Union has announced Shiv Chawrasia as a member for the individual and the men's team events. The 45-year-old was selected after a series of trials.

He will be competing in the men's individual and the men's team events. Round 1 of both events will begin on September 28. Anirban Lahiri, Shubhankar Sharma and Khalin Joshi are the teammates of Shiv Chawrasia in the men's team event.

Kiran Nadar

Kiran Nadar is the wife of Shiv Nadar, the third richest Indian with an estimated net worth of $31 billion. She is 72 years old and hence, the oldest athlete in the Indian contingent. The billionaire competes in the contract bridge sport. She is also a philanthropist and an art collector.

She will be competing in the mixed event and will be teaming up with B Satyanarayana, Himani Khandelwal, Rajeev Khandelwal, Marianne Karmarkar and Sandeep Karmarkar. The mixed team events begin on September 27.