The Indian team at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Saturday officially won its 100th medal, living up to the “Is Baar Sau Paar” goal. With 95 medals won on Friday, India was already guaranteed to reach the century mark in the medal count. Compound archery (3), kabaddi (2), badminton (1), and men’s cricket (1) already had additional medals secured. India added four more medals in archery on Saturday, the last day of competition for Indian athletes in Hangzhou, while the women’s kabaddi team’s victory over Chinese Taipei in the final gave India its 100th gold in total.
The women’s kabaddi team has won the continental championship three times, improving on its second-place showing in the previous Games in Indonesia and realizing the nation’s goal of reaching the historic three-figure milestone for the first time. India currently holds 25 gold, 35 silver, and 40 bronze medals after reaching the 100-medal milestone. Already, a couple more medals are guaranteed.
The Chinese Taipei ladies tested the Indian women to the very limit in the final, just missing out on the championship by one point.
In the final two raids, the Indian squad displayed steely nerves to win the match.
India had a five-point lead going into halftime, courtesy of a super raid from Pooja, who was one of the stars of the intense title showdown that also saw the team’s coach being cautioned with a green card.
India had won 70 medals in the last edition in Indonesia where the country’s athletes won 16 gold, 23 silver and 31 bronze medals to record their best-ever performance.
India had already topped its best-ever performance on Wednesday because to an outstanding performance by the shooters (22 medals) and track and field athletes (29 medals), who combined for 51 medals.
The women’s table tennis team bronze medal won by Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee, who defeated the powerful China in the semifinals, was the biggest surprise medal the Indian delegation received.
The women’s 5000-meter race’s final 30 meters will also go down in history as the decisive moment when Meerut runner Parul Chaudhary beat Japan’s Ririka Hironaka to win gold.
In the men’s javelin competition, Kishore Kumar Jena’s incredible 86.77-meter throw briefly put him front of superstar Neeraj Chopra.
Later Chopra won the gold, while Jena finished behind him to settle for a silver medal.
Canoers Arjun Singh and Sunil Singh Salam’s historic bronze in the men’s double 1000m along with Ram Baboo and Manju Rani’s third place finish in the mixed 35km race walk were perfect examples that if athletes refuse to bow down to the hardships life throws, excelling in sports is possible.
