Lost 20 golds, won just one individual title: India’s Asian Games snap offers harsh reality check

Manu Bhaker and Satwik-Chirag (Image Agency) As the Asian Games enter the final stretch, India’s dwindling gold medal tally tells an uncomfortable story and offers a stark glimpse of reality. Of the 28 golds that India won in Hangzhou three years ago, 20 have already escaped in Aichi-Nagoya, in shooting, athletics, archery, badminton, equestrian, squash and tennis. The sharpest contrast comes in individual events. In Hangzhou, India, he won nine individual gold medals in shooting, athletics and archery. None of them were defended and in some events, India could not even make it to the final rounds in the ongoing edition.In 2023, India has produced a historic 106 medals: 28 gold, 38 silver and 40 bronze. Shooting alone brought home seven golds and athletics six, while archery completed a clean sweep of all five golds combined.Asian Games full coverage | Schedule | Medal totalThree years later, India lost all seven of the gold medals it had won in Hangzhou and all six in athletics. In archery, three team titles survived, but none of the individual ones. In squash, the country lost both the 2023 men’s team and mixed doubles titles. Hangzhou’s golds in badminton men’s doubles, team dressage and tennis mixed doubles were also not retained.As of Thursday, India had won 10 gold medals in Aichi-Nagoya, with men’s hockey and cricket still in contention to defend their title. India’s medal tally has crossed 60 and the country is eighth overall, but staring at a much lower distance than in Hangzhou. For perspective, China has so far won 154 gold medals and 288 medals overall.Of particular concern is the disappearance of gold medals, which India had already established as its continental benchmark.

Another gold medal profile

India’s campaign in Aichi-Nagoya saw its share of memorable performances, new champions and hard-earned podium finishes. But with just two days left in the continental event, it is difficult to ignore the bigger picture: India have not been able to build on their gold medal win in Hangzhou.The six successful saves came in men’s and women’s kabaddi, all three team archery events and women’s cricket. In Aichi-Nagoya, among the 10 gold medals India has won so far, only one has come in an individual event: Neeru Dhanda’s historic women’s trap triumph.The rest went through a team, relay or mixed format. This is a substantial shift in the profile of India’s gold medal success.

Two more chances

India does not end. The men’s hockey team reached the gold medal match after narrowly defeating Pakistan 4-3 in the semi-finals. The men’s cricket team also reached the final to face Pakistan after beating Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the semi-finals.If India wins these two, the Hangzhou-Aichi-Nagoya comparison will improve from six successful defenses to eight. But even placing two out of two would leave the base stat intact: 20 gold from Hangzhou would still be lost.That’s a number that should concern Indian sports administrators.It’s not just a case of one or two champions falling behind. It points to a much wider problem of turning a successful Asian Games cycle into sustained dominance.Athletes who won medals in Japan deserve full credit. The question is different: what happened between Hangzhou’s record 28-gold campaign and the games in which most of those titles didn’t hold up?The answer cannot be found only in the final medal table.Hangzhou showed that India can win 28 golds. Aichi-Nagoya shows how difficult it is to make these gains sustainable.From 28 gold to 10: India’s Asian Games footage offers a harsh reality check