Asian game concludes - India finishes 8th - look forward to Indonesia

The 2014 Asian Games, officially known as the XVII Asiad,  held at Incheon has concluded.  Incheon was awarded the right to host as it defeated India to host the games.  Incheon was the third city in South Korea after Seoul (1986) and Busan (2002) to host the Asian Games.

The final medal tally was led by China, followed by South Korea and Japan. 14 World and 27 Asian records were broken during the Games. Japanese swimmer Kosuke Hagino was announced as the most valuable player (MVP) of the Games. After collecting four gold, one silver and two bronze medals from seven events, one would think Kosuke Hagino would be happy with the Asian Games he’s had.But Hagino gave himself a 50 out of 100, 60 tops. “Out of a 100, I think I deserve a 50 or 60,” he is quoted as saying  after finishing third in the 200-meter backstroke to compatriot Ryosuke Irie.

India finished in 8th position in the Asian Games 2014 standings. In the last edition of the Asian Games at Guangzhou in 2010, India finished at the sixth spot with 14 gold medals and a rich haul of 65 medals in all. Highlight of India’s performance was the range of disciplines which yielded medals. Gold medallists spanned diverse disciplines such as Mary Kom in boxing and Seema Punia in discus. This time India’s performance at Asiads doesn’t rest on a narrow base.

Here are those who brought glory to our Nation winning Gold : Jitu Rai (Shooting); - Rajat Chauhan, Sandeep Kumar, Abhishek Verma (Archery Team); Saurav Ghosal; Mahesh Mangaonkar;Harinder Pal Sandhu; Kush Kumar (Squash Team); Yogeshwar Dutt (65 kg Freestyle wrestling); Seema Punia (Discus throw); Sania Mirza & Saketh Myneni (Tennis mixed doubles); Mary Kom (Boxing 51 kg); Men's hockey team; Priyanka Pawar, Tintu Luka, Mandeep Kaur & M. R. Poovamma (4 x 400 relay); Women's kabaddi team and Men's kabaddi team.

The  18^th Asian Games will be held 4 years later and will be hosted by Indonesia, with the capital city of Jakarta  as main host  while Palembang and Bandung will be supporting hosts.  They will host the Games in 2018 rather than original planned of 2019 to avoid the presidential election. Originally Hanoi, Vietnam was chosen as the host. However, they withdrew due to the financial constraints.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

5^th Oct 2014.