After delivering two weeks of memorable sporting action, the Asian Games 2023 will come to an end today with a closing ceremony at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in the People’s Republic of China.
The closing ceremony will start at 5.30 pm (IST) and live streaming and telecast of the ceremony will be available in India in Sony LIV app and Sony Sports Network.
The Indian contingent finished their Asian Games 2023 with a record tally of 107 medals, including 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze.
This is the nation’s biggest-ever haul in a single edition of the quadrennial showpiece. Their previous best was 70 medals (16 gold) at Jakarta 2018.
Among the major highlights, Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra defended his Asiad javelin title with a massive 88.88m throw. Athletics fetched the highest number of medals among all disciplines — 29.
Indian shooting bettered its best count of 14 at Doha 2006 to win 22 medals in China. Twelve of these medals have come in team events.
The men’s and women’s cricket and kabaddi team did the double, hauling in gold medals in each of these sections.
In compound archery, India clean swept the five gold medals on offer, with Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Ojas Pravin Deotale registering a rare treble. It bodes well for the team even as compound archery seeks a permanent inclusion in the Olympic programme ahead of Los Angeles 2028.
On the badminton front, the World No. 3 pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty clinched India’s first-ever gold with a straight-games win in the men’s doubles final. The squad returned with three medals, its second-best performance ever.
Some of these medals also guaranteed athletes Paris 2024 berths. The Indian men’s hockey team with a golden finish, and boxers Nikhat Zareen (bronze), Parveen (bronze), Preeti (bronze) and Lovlina (bronze), are the ones who got tickets to the marquee event in the French capital in less than 300 days from now.
This post was published on October 8, 2023 6:49 pm