Asian Games
Asian Games 2023: Sports where India topped the medal tally
While Indian athletes have shown great determination and courage to succeed at the Asian Games 2023, there was a clean sweep in compound archery, cricket, men’s hockey and kabaddi.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Swami and Praneet Kaur clinched the women's compound archery team gold medal at the Asian Games. (Source: World Archery)
India has recorded its best-ever show at the Asian Games, winning 107 medals, including 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze medals.
While Indian athletes have shown great determination and courage to succeed in the Asian Games 2023, there was a clean sweep in compound archery, cricket, men’s hockey and kabaddi.
Compound Archery
Indian compound archers wrapped up the Games with their best-ever performance staggering five gold medals and a clean sweep in all five compound archery events - both team and individual categories.
The outstanding performance of the compound archers helped India edge out powerhouse South Korea from the pole position, winning one more gold than the Koreans, completing their ascendency in the continental showpiece. Korea, who topped the archery medal tally for ten editions in a row, lost the lead for the first time.
India won a total of nine medals in archery. Leading the pack from the front, Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Ojas Pravin Deotale notched up a hat-trick of gold medals.
Abhishek Verma and Aditi Gopichand Swami won silver and bronze medals in men's and women's compound individual events.
Cricket
Indian cricket teams, making their debut at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, swept the event by winning two gold medals. While the women's team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, in the final beat Sri Lanka, the men's team won their final against Afghanistan in a rain-disrupted match due to their higher ranking.
Men’s hockey
The Indian men's team, the winner of the Asian Champions Trophy 2023, has deservedly clinched the Asian Games gold medal. The gulf between the quality of the Indian team and the rest was huge. India, the only unbeaten side in the Asiad, thrashed Japan 5-1 after handing the defending champion a 4-2 defeat in the group stage.
The women's team, however, went down to a spirited Chinese side 0-4 in the semifinal before claiming a bronze medal with a 2-1 win over Japan.
Kabaddi
The Indian men's Kabaddi team reclaimed its pride place in Asia with a 33-29 win over Iran in the final. It was a match that was filled with controversy at the fag end due to error and confusion among the officials regarding awarding a point to India or Iran.
The Indian women's team, meanwhile, defeated Chinese Taipei to complete the clean sweep of the event.
