Top 10 performances of Indian athletes at Asian Games

India hosted the first Asian Games in 1951 and featured in every edition.

India was the host of the first Asian Games held in 1951 post-independence and is one of the few countries to have featured in all the editions till 2018. The most successful one was the 2018 Jakarta Games where India won a total of 70 medals (16 golds, 23 silvers, and 31 bronze medals) to claim the 8th spot in the points table. Overall India has won a total of 672 medals till the 2018 Asian Games.

10. Yogeshwar Dutt

Yogeshwar Dutt ended India’s 28-year gold drought after winning the gold medal in men’s 65kg freestyle. He beat Canada's Jevon Balfour (10-0) in a one-sided contest. The star Indian used his leg-twisting method to win the quarterfinals and the same technique was used by him to win the bronze at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

9. Seema Punia

Discuss thrower Seema Punia succeeded the Chinese opposition to win the gold medal at the Incheon Games. Punia registered a distance of 61.03 metres, which was India’s only individual gold medal in athletics at the 2014 Asian Games. Seema Punia has been an active participant for more than two decades and the 2014 Asian Games was the first gold along with a bronze medal at the 2018 Jakarta Games.

8. Sachin Nag

Sachin Nag was the first Indian to win a gold medal at the Asian Games held in Delhi in 1951. The swimmer won the medal in the 100m freestyle event. Sachin competed twice for India at the Olympics in the 1948 and 1952 editions competing in the water polo event.

7. Rani Sarnobat

Rahi Sarnobat became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in shooting at the Asian Games. Rahi Sarnobat won the gold in the 25m pistol event defeating Yangpaiboon Naphaswan of Thailand in the shootouts. Both Rahi Sarnobat and the Thai scored 34 points which is an Asian Games record. Manu Bhaker the other star Indian finished 6th in the same event.

6. Saurav Ghoshal

Saurav Ghosal scripted history with a bronze medal win in squash becoming the first-ever player from India to win an individual medal. Ghoshal beat the 2018 Commonwealth Games Champion James Willstrop who was the favourite to win the bronze medal.

5. Sarita Devi

Sarita Devi was denied the chance to fight in the final of the women’s lightweight (60kg) boxing event settling for a bronze medal. She was the dominant boxer in all three rounds but the referees gave the decision against her.

4. Kabaddi

India is the only side to win seven gold medals in Kabaddi with the sport first introduced in the year 1990. For the first time in 2018, India lost to Iran in the semifinals the first instance India not winning a gold medal at the Asian Games.

3. PT Usha

PT Usha set the track ablaze at the 1986 Asian Games, winning four of the five gold medals India won that year along with a silver. A three-time Olympian, PT Usha broke the Asian Games record in four events (200m, 400m, 400m hurdles and 4 x 400m relay) at the Seoul 1986 Games.

2. Women's 4x400 relay

The Indian women's 4x400m relay team set a Games record in the 10th Asian Games held in Seoul. The Indian quartet consisting of PT Usha, MD Valsamma, Vandana Rao, and Shiny Abraham clocked a timing of 3:34.58 mins which was a Games Record. Since then India has been winning multiple medals in the event with the recent gold at the 2018 Asian Games.

1. Neeraj Chopra

At Asian Games in 2018, Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win a gold medal in the javelin throw spearing the Javelin to a distance of 88.06m. This was his second successive major tournament after the Commonwealth Games where he won a gold medal in the gap of four months. The star Indian missed out on the Olympics spot in 2016 after winning the Junior Championships but made up for that by winning the continental Games.