India finish inside the top ten in the medals tally at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang.
India achieved its highest ever medal tally at the Asian Games by finishing with a total of 69 medals in Jakarta-Palembang. The brilliant performances by the athletes helped the nation surpass its previous highest medal tally of 65, set in Guangzhou in 2010. Apart from the 15 gold, India picked up 24 silver and 30 bronze medals for a sensational. show that helped them finish inside top-10 at eighth for the third consecutive time.
On the final day, Amit Panghal displayed a soldier's grit to stun the reigning Olympic champion for India's only boxing gold and two 50-plus bridge players proved that age is just a number with their top finishes. Starting the day at 13 gold, Armyman Amit was up against quite a few odds as he took on reigning Olympic and Asian champion Hasanboy Dusmatov, the man he narrowly lost to in the world championships quarterfinal almost a year ago.
The day ended with the men's hockey team redeeming itself to an extent by beating arch-rivals Pakistan 2-1 to walk away with a consolation bronze medal. But the gutsy 22-year-old, the only Indian to make the boxing finals, prevailed 3-2 as India ended its boxing campaign at the Games with a gold and a bronze, which was won by Vikas Krishan in the middle-weight category. Amit showed immense tactical brilliance, especially in defence to outmanoeuvre the Uzbek, who has an iconic status in international boxing.
Then came two men, who would be nearing retirement in any contemporary job, but made their Asian Games debut in a debut sport. Two old friends -- Pranab Bardhan and Shibnath Sarkar -- quietly added a gold to India's tally as the focus remained on traditional sports. Bardhan, at the age of 60, became the oldest man in Indian contingent to win a medal at the Games as he and his 56-year old partner finished the men's pair event with a score of 384. They edged out China's Lixin Yang and Gang Chen, who finished with 378 points after five rounds of the competition.
The squash players, who had shocked powerhouse Malaysia in semifinals, though were stopped in their tracks by Hong Kong in the women's team final and they had to settle for a silver. Sunayna Kuruvilla and India number one Joshna Chinappa lost their respective singles as the team suffered its second defeat against Hong Kong in a space of three days. A silver was a creditable performance nonetheless, having surprised defending champions Malaysia in the semifinals on Friday. With a runners-up finish, India equalled their best ever performance at the Games. They had also reached the final at Incheon four years ago.
The Indian contingent ended with five medals overall including the women's team silver, the men's team bronze and three bronze medals in the individual event. The Indian men's hockey team maintained its recent domination over arch-rivals Pakistan with a 2-1 win, ensuring a consolatory bronze medal after a below-par performance in the tournament.
(Inputs from PTI)
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 "(Clockwise from top left) Rohan Bopanna-Divij Sharan, Neeraj Chopra, Women's Relay Team, Saurabh Chaudhary - gold medal winners")
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