HANGZHOU: India clinched a historic 100 medals in the Asian Games sporting tournament held in China. The 100th medal came after India’s women's Kabaddi team defeated Chinese Taipei (26-24) in the final. So far, India has won 25 golds in the event. Adding to the medial cabinet comes 35 silver and 40 bronze. Ojas Praveen won gold while Abhishek settled for silver in the archery (men) compound individual event on Saturday.
Meanwhile, India’s Jyothi Surekha Vennam clinched gold in the women's compound event (Archery). This is Jyoti's third gold in the Asian Games.
It was jubilance all over for Malayali hockey star P R Sreejesh as the Indian hockey team showed dominance winning gold in the tournament after defeating Japan. Sreejesh responded saying it was icing on the cake for India as the team also secured qualification for the Paris Olympics. Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for the players.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the stars through X. Modi also shared his desire to interact with the players after their return to India.
However, it was dismay for Bajrang Punia as the wrestling icon had to return without a medal. It was rather a shock since Punia was a gold medal hopeful and was IOA’s ad-hoc pick for the wrestling team. Punia also faced several criticisms following his defeat as netizens juxtaposed this to his earlier protest against the government citing the Brij Bhushan fiasco.
A momentous achievement for India at the Asian Games!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 7, 2023
The people of India are thrilled that we have reached a remarkable milestone of 100 medals.
I extend my heartfelt congratulations to our phenomenal athletes whose efforts have led to this historic milestone for India.… pic.twitter.com/CucQ41gYnA