Ahead of the 18th Asian Games, Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games to be held in Indonesia, the Indian contingent have been going about their preparations with quite a vigour. The Asiad’s have always presented the participating athletes with a challenge that is certainly more than that of events like the Commonwealth Games. It is widely considered as the second largest multi-sporting event in the world, which is a testament to the high level of performance required to win anything at Asiad. Every medal won is important to decide the medal tally and overall standings at the end of the tournament. Let us look at how India has performed over the past few Asian Games to get a glimpse of the challenge awaiting us in Indonesia. Asian Games 2018 Mascot Names: Know Everything About Bhin Bhin, Atung and Kaka of Jakarta Palembang Asian Games.

A Look At India's Medal Tally in Last Five Asian Games

India at Asian Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
2014 Asian Games 11 9 37 57
2010 Asian Games 14 17 34 65
2006 Asian Games 10 17 26 53
2002 Asian Games 11 12 13 36
1998 Asian Games 7 11 17 35

2014 Asian Games: India finished with 57 medals at the Incheon Asian Games that included 11 Golds, 9 Silver and 37 Bronze. The event will also be remembered for it saw the revival of Indian Hockey which had been faulting for quite some time. The hockey team won its first gold since the 1998 Asian Games, and it also meant an automatic qualification for the Rio Olympics. As India lost out on the medal count compared to the 2010 Asian Games, it won medals in 9 disciplines which was a high point. India finished 8th in Incheon with the games being a mixed bag for the South Asian nation. Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra to be India’s Flag-bearer For Asian Games 2018 Opening Ceremony in Indonesia.

2010 Asian Games: India’s best performance at the Asian Games so far, the 2010 event in Guangzhou saw it win 65 medals which included the 14 golds in addition to 17 silver and 34 bronze. The games were also special as India witnessed first wins in Gymnastics and Roller Sports in which it was rank outsiders. Cricket was introduced at these games, but India did not send its team which denied the country a medal. The shooting team won multiple medals in Guangzhou with Ronjan Sodhi bagging a gold. India finished on the 6th position at the medals table. Asian Games 2018 Name of Indian Athletes: Complete List of 541-Member Contingent for 37 Sports Events at Jakarta Palembang Asian Games.

2006 Asian Games: India managed to win 53 medals in Doha Asiad that included ten golds, 17 silver and 26 bronze. Shooting was again the stand out the department in terms of performance 14 medals. Jaspal Rana won two golds in Men’s 25m center fire pistol and standard pistol. In tennis, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi teamed up to bad a gold in men’s doubles while Pankaj Advani grabbed a gold in Billiards singles and these performances helped India finish 8th in the medals tally.

2002 Asian Games: The Busan Asian Games was all about Athletics for India with 17 out of the 36 medals it won coming in this particular discipline. Sunita Rani won a gold and bronze for India in the 1500m and 5000m event and for a brief period was embroiled in doping controversy which she later managed to come out of. Shiv Kapur helped India win a gold in golf which was a huge feat considering the status of the sport in India. Overall, India finished 7th in the medals tally with 11 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze.

1998 Asian Games: India won 7 gold, 11 silver and 17 bronze on its way to finishing 9th in the Bangkok Asian Games of 1998. Jyotirmoyee Sikdar won two golds in Athletics while it was Billiards that provided India with another two golds with Geet Sethi and Ashok Shandilya proving to be the winning combination. The hockey team bagged a gold which is always special with it being the national sports.

India can look forward to climbing higher in the medals tally at the 18th Asian Games by taking inspiration from our athletes who in the past despite some severe crunch of resources have managed to pull off great performances.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 11, 2018 01:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).