The Author is Former Director General of Information Systems and A Special Forces Veteran, Indian Army

The spectacular display by India at the 19th Asian Games held at Hangzhou in China is unparalleled in India's history. It is the first time India crossed the tally of 100. In fact, the stated target of 'This Time, 100 on the Board' was comfortably achieved by winning 107 medals (28 Gold, 38 Silver, and 41 Bronze) and securing the fourth overall ranking, after China, Japan, and South Korea.

Before the 19th Asian Games, India had won more than 50 medals six times in Asian Games; 51 medals in 1951 at New Delhi (India), 57 medals in 1962 at New Delhi (India), 53 medals in 2006 at Doha (Qatar), 65 medals in 2010 at Guangzhou (China), 57 medals in 2014 at Inchon (South Korea), and 70 medals in 2018 at Jakarta-Palembang (Indonesia). For the 19th Asian Games, India fielded the largest contingent of 661 competitors comprising 333 men and 328 women to participate in 35 sports.

India achieves historic milestone at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, securing 107 medals (28 Gold, 38 Silver, and 41 Bronze) and clinching fourth place overall

Sports in which the 28 Gold Medals were won include; Shooting – 7, Cricket – 2, Equestrian -1, Tennis – 1, Squash - 2, Athletics - 6, Badminton - 1, Archery - 5, 1 in Hockey - 1 and Kabaddi - 2. The 38 Silver Medals included; Shooting – 9, Rowing 2, Sailing – 1, Wushu – 1, Tennis – 1, Squash – 1, Athletics – 14, Golf – 1, Boxing – 1, Badminton – 1, Archery – 2, Wrestling – 1, and Bridge – 1. The 41 Bronze Medals included; Shooting – 6, Rowing – 3, Sailing – 2, Equestrian – 1, Squash – 2, Athletics – 9, Boxing – 4, Badminton – 1, Roller Skating – 2, Table Tennis – 1, Canoe – 1, Archery – 2, Wrestling – 5, Sepaktakraw – 1 and Hockey – 1. Notably Athletics, Shooting, Archery and Squash cumulatively bagged 65 of the 107 medal haul; 29, 22, 9 and 5 respectively. Both Cricket and both Kabaddi teams also bagged Gold Medals.

The Indian contingent, comprising 661 athletes in 35 sports, surpasses previous medal tallies, marking a significant leap in sporting prowess

All medal winners deserve accolades but special congratulations are in order for the 34 multiple medal winners; Ojas Deotale and Jyothi Surekha Vennam (3 Gold each), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (2 Gold), Esha Singh (1 Gold, 3 Silver), Parul Chaudhary (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Saurav Ghosal (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Palak (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Rajesh Ramesh (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Chirag Shetty (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Avinash Sable (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Sift Kaur Samra (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Sarabjot Singh (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Muhammed Ajmal (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Abhishek Verma (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Anush Agarwalla (1 Gold, 1 Bronze), Kynan Darius Chenai (1 Gold, 1 Bronze), Dipika Pallikal Karthik (1 Gold, 1 Bronze), Abhay Singh (1 Gold, 1 Bronze), Aditi Swami (1 Gold, 1 Bronze), Ashi Chouksey (2 Silver, 1 Bronze), Vithya Ramraj (2 Silver, 1 Bronze), Harmilan Bains (2 Silver), Divya (2 Silver), Subha Venkatesan (2 Silver), Ashish (1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Prannoy (1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Punit Kumar (1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Anant Jeet Singh (1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Ramita (1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Bheem Singh (1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Jaswinder Singh (1 Silver, 1 Bronze) and Anahat Singh (2 Bronze).

Armed Forces play a pivotal role, contributing 28 medals, with the Army leading the charge in disciplines like Athletics, Archery, and Kabaddi

The Indian Armed Forces fielded 85 competitors (60 Army, 17 Navy, and 8 Air Force) in the 19th Asian Games and won 28 of the 107 overall medals won; 20 by the Army, 5 by the Navy, and 4 by the Air Force. The Army won 3 Gold (2 in Athletics + 1 in Kabaddi), 7 Silver (1 in Archery, 2 in Athletics, 2 in Rowing, 1 in Shooting, and 1 in Wrestling) and 10 Bronze (3 in Athletics, 1 in Boxing, 1 in K&C, 3 in Rowing, and 2 in Sailing). The Navy won 3 Gold (2 in Athletics + 1 in Kabaddi), 1 Silver in Athletics, and 1 Bronze in Rowing. The Air Force won 2 Gold (1 each in Athletics and Kabaddi) and 1 Silver in Athletics.

Army's medal winners include: Sub Neeraj Chopra (Gold in Athletics), Sub Avinash Sable (1 Gold + 1 Silver in Athletics), Sapper Arjun Deshwal (Gold in Kabaddi), Sub Deepak Punia (Silver in Wrestling), Hav Kartik Kumar (Silver in Athletics), R/Hav Preeti Rajak (Silver in Shooting), Hav B Dhiraj (Silver in Archery), Nb Sub Arjun Lal Jat and Nb Sub Avind Singh, Hav Charanjeet Singh, Hav Neetish Kumar, Rfn Naresh Kalwariya, Spr Neeraj and Sub Dhananjay P, Hav Ashish and Hav Punit Kumar, Sub Sukhmeet Singh, Nb Sub Jakar Khan, Rfn Babulal and Gdr Lekh Ram (all Silver in Rowing), Hav Jaswinder Singh and Hav Bheem Singh (both Bronze in Rowing, Sub Jinsen Johnson, HavGulvir Singh and R/Hav Rambaboo (all Bronze in Athletics), Sub Narender (Bronze in Boxing), Sub Vishnu Saravan and Hav Ebad Ali (both Bronze in Sailing), Hav Salam Sunil Singh (Bronze in K&C).

India's success at the 19th Asian Games serves as a launching pad for greater aspirations in the global sports arena, setting sights on future accolades and international events like the Olympics

India's achievements in the 19th Asian Games are no doubt stupendous, especially when compared to previous such events. However, we should treat this as our moon landing in the sports arena. This should be used as the base to reach out to the outer space arena of sports – 'Play Beyond'. There are some who say let us not talk of China's performance in sports. But why should we not when India is rising and our population already has crossed that of China. Climatic conditions and other excuses should be passé. In the 20th Asiad, we should aim for at least the second ranking from the top. The Olympics next year in Paris will help us keep up the momentum.