The Hangzhou Asian Games saw Indian sports reach a new pinnacle. Right from athletics to archery, every athlete from the Indian contingent gave it their all with the aim to deliver a medal
On October 6, 2023, Friday, India started gearing up to celebrate a historic century of medals at the Asian Games, and on Saturday morning, the ‘hundred’ was duly achieved. Indian sports has never seen such a momentous rise at the Games. (Medal Tally | Full Coverage)
Below, we look at five Indian athletes who unexpectedly clinched medals at the Asian Games 2023:
Ram Baboo (Race Walk Mixed Team Event)
From a daily wage labourer to an Asian Games medallist, Ram Baboo's story is one for the ages. In the race walk mixed team event, Ram Baboo, along with Manju Rani, won a bronze medal for India. However, for Baboo, nothing came easy. The 24-year-old, who worked as a waiter to finance his athletics training and also joined as a worker in the MGNREGA scheme during COVID-19 lockdown, has come a long way. "It's about determination and focus on your goal. If you are determined to achieve, you will find ways to reach your goal. That is what I did," said Ram Baboo of his memorable feat.
Anush Agarwalla, Hriday Chheda, Divyakriti Singh, Sudipti Hajela (Dressage Team)
The Indian contingent was on a high at the Asian Games 2023 with a surge in medals, one of which was a gold in the equestrian dressage team event. India's Anush Agarwalla, Hriday Chheda, Divyakriti Singh, Sudipti Hajela and their respective horses finished on the top of the podium thanks to their combined score of 209.205. Moreover, it was India's first gold medal in the sport after 41 years. The last gold was secured by Raghubir Singh in the individual event at the 1982 Games in New Delhi. The last dressage medal before this edition was a bronze at the 1986 Asian Games.
Parul Chaudhary (Athletics)
28-year-old Parul Chaudhary, a long-distance runner from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, pulled off a breathtaking last 50m dash in the women’s 5000m event to win an unexpected gold medal for India. Parul clocked 15:14:75 to register a memorable feat. She had earlier bagged a silver in the 3000m steeplechase event. “In our UP, it takes a gold medal to get you the post of DSP. I hope this effort gets me that position,” Parul was quoted in a leading publication. Perhaps, the time has arrived for the 28-year-old runner.
Neha Thakur (Sailing)
Another unexpected medal that came India's way was in the form of sailor Neha Thakur’s silver in girl's dinghy ILCA-4 event. The daughter of a farmer in Madhya Pradesh, Neha had done her training from the National Sailing School in Bhopal. Neha had also earned a medal (bronze) in the Asian Sailing Championship in Abu Dhabi earlier this year.
Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee (Table Tennis)
Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee's bronze medal at the Asian Games 2023 is a special one. The West Bengal duo became the first Indian women's doubles pair to clinch a medal in table tennis at the Games. During their historic run, the Mukherjees defeated world champions Cheng Meng and Yidi Wang of China in the quarter-final. However, they could not go past the Korean pair of Suyong Cha and Sugyong Pak. What makes this medal by the Indian pairing even more special is that the Mukherjees were not deemed good enough to represent the country at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. From there to go on to beat the world champions and then clinch a bronze, is something really huge for Indian table tennis.