Hey there!
17th Asian Games (2014) which is officially known as XVII Asiad had its first day of Medal Event today. After a grand opening ceremony yesterday, Asian Games went underway with its first Medal Event-Shooting at the city of Incheon, South Korea.
About 17th Asian Games:
17th Asian Games, officially known as XVII Asiad are hosted by South Korea at the port city of Incheon. The event will continue for 16 days from September 19 to October 4.
The authority for hosting the 17th Asian Games were given to South Korea by Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) after defeating New Delhi by 35 to 13 votes in Bidding.
Incheon now is the third city of South Korea to host Asian Games after Seoul(1986) and Busan(2002).
It was the very first time in the history of Asian Games that the Torch Relay started outside the host country. It began from India after being lit at Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi, India on August 9, 2014.
A total of 45 nations will participate in this 17th Asian Games with total of 439 events in 36 sports. New sporting events to be included in this Asiad are Archery, Mixed relay triathlon, Judo.
India at 17th Asian Games:
India would field 262 competitors in 11 sports and in the sports like wrestling, shooting, archery, boxing, tennis there are high medal hopes.
In Asian Games 2010, India managed to win total of 64 medals including 19 which sets even higher expectations on Indian player this year to better their previous performances.
Key Indian Players to look out for:
Sania Mirza: After winning the US Open 2014 Mixed Doubles title, Sania Mirza has set even high standards for herself in this 17th Asian Games.
Gagan Narang: He won the Bronze medal at commonwealth Games, Glasgow this year. He has won a total of 8 Gold medals in Commonwealth Games and will be aiming for Gold at his 3rd Asian Games.
Abhinav Bindra: Former Olympic and World Champion would surely be looking for Gold at this Asiad.
Satish Sivalingam: The player who made it to the news by winning a Gold in 77kg weightlifting category at the commonwealth games this year would be looking for his best performance in this Asian Games.
PV Sindhu: She would be exposed to a bigger stage for showcasing her talent especially after winning Bronze at Asian Junior Championships and Gold at Girl’s singles category at Commonwealth Games this year.
Mary Kom: She is certainly India’s biggest medal hope. Nicknamed as “Magnificent Mary”, she won India’s most prestigious sports award – Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2009. But unlike others her boxing does more talking than the awards.
Saina Nehwal: Winning a bronze medal at London Olympics 2012, made her first Indian to achieve a medal in Badminton. Unfortunately, she did not made it to the Commonwealth Games this year but that certainly doesn’t hinder her in winning the Gold at this 17th Asian Games.
The records show that the Asian games have always been dominated by China, who won total of 416 medals including 199 Gold at 2010 Asian Games. But for India, achieving something that huge would take considerable amount of years and hence India should only be looking for bettering their own records.
Right from Narendra Modi to Arvind Kejriwal, everyone wished them good luck for the event.
Medal Tally for India
Gold – 11
Silver – 9
Bronze – 37
