NEW DELHI : India head into the 20th Asian Games determined to breach the 100-medal mark again in Aichi-Nagoya and strengthen their position behind the continent’s “big three” sporting powers.
India won a record 107 medals in Hangzhou three years ago, a major improvement on their previous best of 70 at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games and the first three-figure haul at an Asian Games by a country other than China, Japan or South Korea.
Their ambitions in Japan over the next few weeks are also linked to India’s bid to become the fourth Asian country to host a Summer Olympics, with the country targeting the 2036 Games.
“Our target is 2036 – by the time we host the Olympics, we need to be firmly established on the world stage,” Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said last week.
“I have complete faith that our contingent will perform well at the Asian Games and increase the pride of the country.”
A second successive 100-medal haul appears within India’s reach despite the absence of star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, whose bid for a third consecutive Asian Games gold was ended by a torn ligament.
Shooting and athletics will again be among India’s main medal sources. Seven of the country’s 28 golds in Hangzhou came in shooting, while athletics contributed six.
India also swept the compound archery gold medals in Hangzhou and will expect another strong showing in Nagoya.
MIRABAI’S MISSION
No disappointment would be greater, however, than failing to defend the two cricket gold medals won in Hangzhou.
India’s men’s team are reigning T20 world champions, while the women’s side are coming off an Asia Cup triumph in Dubai on Sunday.
India will also target both field hockey gold medals after the women’s team finished fifth at the World Cup in August, the best performance by an Asian side.
Further medals are expected from kabaddi, squash, wrestling and weightlifting, although aquatics remains a relative weakness.
In weightlifting, Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu is chasing the only major accolade missing from her decorated career.
Despite winning three Commonwealth Games gold medals, injuries and inconsistent form have left Chanu without an Asian Games medal from two previous appearances.
Now fully fit, the 32-year-old is taking nothing for granted in the women’s 49kg category, which she expects to feature Olympic-level competition.
“The strongest lifters in my weight category come from Asia and you will get a glimpse of the Olympics in Japan,” she said in the buildup to the Games.
