Report by Yashasvi Anika Tandon
The 19th edition of the Asian Games (Asiads) 2022 was held from 23rd September to 8th October 2023 at Hangzhou, China. They were supposed to be held in 2022, but China was unable to host them due to COVID-19.
About the Asian Games
The motto of the Asian Games is ‘Ever Onward’. They are held every four years and were first organised at New Delhi in 1951.They will be held next, in 2026, at Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The slogan for this year’s Games was ‘Heart to Heart’.This year, there were 40 sports across 61 disciplines. The Asian Games were held across 56 venues in Hangzhou.
The Mascot
The mascot of the Asian Games 2023 is a group of robots titled ‘Memories of Jiangnan’. The name is taken from one of poet Bai Juyi’s poems. The robots are named Chenchen, Congcong, and Lianlian, and depict the cultural heritage of Hangzhou. They are blue, yellow and green in colour.
The opening ceremony and the Indian contingent
The parade of nations comprising 45 countries was held at the Big Lotus Stadium in Hangzhou, and the first country in the parade was Afghanistan.
India sent its largest ever contingent of 655 players.
Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain, and captain of the Indian men’s hockey team, Harmanpreet Singh, were the flag bearers for India at the opening ceremony. The women athletes were dressed in traditional sarees while the male players wore mustard-coloured kurtas, along with floral jackets for the opening ceremony.
The Wushu players issue
Three Wushu prayers of India, from Arunachal Pradesh were unable to make it to the games as China gave them stapled visas (visas stapled/attached to the passport) instead of stamped ones (visas glued/stuck to the passport), while India accepts only stamped visas.
Records India Set at the Asian Games 2022
a. For the first time in the history of the Asian Games, did India win more than 100 medals, i.e., 107 medals. The full list of medals won can be found here.
b. India won a gold medal in the dressage discipline of Equestrian for the first time.
c. HS Prannoy claimed a medal for India in singles badminton and ended a 41-year wait for a medal in badminton at the Asian Games.
d. Sift Kaur Samra, India’s rifle shooter, set a new world record with 469.6 points.
e. Eashad Ali clinched the bronze medal in windsurfing for the first time for India.
f. Sutirtha and Ayhika Mukherji won a medal (bronze) for India in table tennis for the first time ever at the Asiads.
g. India won a gold medal for the first time in badminton doubles at the Games (Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty). (Image below)
h. Both gold and silver medals were won by India’s Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Kumar Jena at the javelin throw event. Annu Rani won the gold in the women’s javelin throw.
i. There was a 57-year age gap between India’s youngest and eldest athlete. The youngest were 15-year-old squash player Anahat Singh and roller skater Sanjana Bathula, while the oldest was 72-year-old bridge player Kiran Nadar.
j. Indian archers Jyoti Surekha Vennam and Ojas Praveen Deotale completed a hat-trick of gold medals.
Indian men’s hockey team goalkeeper PR Sreejesh was the flag bearer for the Indian contingent at the closing ceremony. India ranked 4th at the Asian Games this year.
The People’s Republic of China stood first with 383 medals, Japan came second with 188 medals and the People’s Republic of Korea secured the third position on the podium with 190 medals.
All images from Sports Authority of India