Suresh Kalmadi hails Indian athletes performance at Asiad

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi today hailed India's record-breaking performance in the ongoing 16th Asian Games at Guangzhou and termed the achievement as a creditable milestone in the country's sporting history.

Kalmadi said that there were many firsts in India's performance during the Games and medals in disciplines like gymnastics, roller sports, rowing and archery showed that the Indian sports was heading in the right direction.

"I want to congratulate the athletes for their remarkable performance in the Asian Games. They had worked hard for this and it is indeed satisfying that India have recorded their highest-ever medals tally in these Games," Kalmadi told PTI from Guangzhou.

Kalmadi, who will be coming back to India after the closing ceremony tomorrow, said that India has now come a long way in some of the disciplines where no one had expected them to win medals earlier.

"For the first time, we have won a medal in gymnastics. We have won a medal after 24 years in swimming. We have done exceptionally well in athletics. All this augurs well for Indian sports," said the IOA chief.

Kalmadi, who is facing probe against alleged corruption charges in the recent Commonwealth Games in Delhi, said that the performance of Indian athletes has raised hopes of India doing well in the 2012 London Olympics and other multi-disciplinary events in the future.