Hangzhou Asian Games 2023 is to be organized from 23 September to 8 October, apart from Hangzhou, some events will be taking place in five other cities. About 650 players will participate in these games from India, who will participate in 40 different sports. This time, the biggest team from India is of athletics, which includes about 68 players.

Apart from athletics, both men's and women's cricket and football teams will participate. This is the first time that cricket is also being a part of the Asian Games, India has announced both men's and women's teams for it. India's matches will start from 23rd September and will continue till 8th October. The Indian contingent will hope to better its performance of 16 gold, 23 silver, and 31 bronze medals from five years ago in Indonesia.

India may lag far behind in the Olympics, but it remains one of the big contenders in the Asian Games and faces less challenge compared to other countries except China, Korea, and Japan. This time India is sending about 100 more players than the previous Asian Games, so it is hopeful that this time there will be more medals. In this article, we will discuss about the Indian athletes with the best chance to win gold at the Asian Games 2023.

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Asian Games 2023: Medal Contenders

1. Neeraj Chopra (Men's Javelin Throw)

Neeraj Chopra is in the form of his life at the moment. The Tokyo Olympics gold medallist added another feather to his cap this year after he won gold at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. He also finished second in the Zurich Diamond League tournament in August, and just before the Asian Games 2023, finished second in the Diamond League Finals in Euguene this week. Neeraj Chopra will look to replicate his success from the 2018 Asian Games, with another fine performance in China.

2. Indian Men's Hockey Team

The Indian men's hockey team, who underperformed in the knockout stages of the Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang, will be looking to quieten their doubters with a gold medal-winning performance at the Asian Games 2023. This tournament is important in more ways than 1 for the Hockey Team from India. They will have to win Gold at the Asiad to qualify for the Olympics next year via direct qualification. They should win the Gold medal if they play to their absolute best.

3. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (Badminton- Men's Doubles)

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are World No. 3 in men's doubles rankings. The duo has been in spectacular form since last year. They won the 2022 India Open before being part of the Indian squad that clinched its maiden Thomas Cup title. Satwik-Chirag also clinched gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham before grabbing a historic bronze medal at the World Championships. They added one more title to their collection before the end of 2022 - their first-ever BWF World Super 750 title at the French Open.

4. Nikhat Zareen (Women's Boxing)

The World Champion Boxer from India should be the heavy favorite to win the Gold medal at the Asian Games as well. She should win the Gold medal without any difficulty and she would also secure qualification for the Parts Olympics in 2024. No other boxer in her category is at her level. While she has never competed in the Asian Games before, the 27-year-old from Nizamabad is expected to be the favourite for the gold medal.

5. Indian Men's and Women's cricket teams

There should be no doubt that the Indian Men's and Women's Cricket team are one of the medal hopefuls for India in the tournament. It will be an 18 team tournament and the best young players from India will play led by Ruturaj Gaekwad. While The women's team will be captained by Smriti Mandhana. Harmanpreet Kaur was initially supposed to lead the team. However, she will miss two matches after being suspended by the International Cricket Council for her outburst in an ODI against Bangladesh. Harmanpreet cannot come back into the team unless it reaches the final.

Both Indian men's and women's teams will begin their campaign directly from the quarterfinal stage.

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6. Mirabai Chanu (Women's Weightlifting)

Mirabai Chanu made her Asian Games debut in 2014 in Incheon and finished ninth in the women's 48kg category. Since then, she has shown amazing growth. She has won two gold and one silver medals at the Commonwealth Games, a World Championship title in 2017 with her biggest achievement being the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. While it will be tough for Mirabai to secure gold in her category which also features reigning Olympic champion Hou Zhihui and World champion Jiang Huihua, she is still expected to at least finish on the podium.

7. Jyothi Surekha Vennam (Compound Archery)

Jyothi Surekha Vennam is one of the most decorated Indian archers with multiple medals at Asian Archery Championships, World Cups and World Championships. This year, Jyothi, along with Parneet Kaur and Aditi Swami, won India's first-ever gold medal at the World Championships in the women's team event in Berlin. Jyothi has previously competed at the Asian Games in 2014 and 2018, winning a silver and a bronze medal in the team events. The 27-year-old compound archer from Vijayawada could clinch multiple medals across categories in Hangzhou.

8. Tejaswin Shankar (Decathlon)

Tejaswin Shankar is a big medal prospect for India in decathlon at the Asian Games despite his recent switch from high jump in which he holds the National Record. The 24-year-old from New Delhi fell just 10 points short of Bharatinder Singh's national record of 7658 points in his very first decathlon event in Tucson, Arizona, this April. He then managed to meet the Asian Games qualification mark of 7500 points set by the Athletics Federation of India with a performance of 7576 points at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar in June. In July, he won his first major medal in decathlon - a bronze at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok with 7527 points.

9. R Praggnanandhaa (Chess)

R Praggnanandhaa, the young chess prodigy, is coming off fighting a challenge against Magnus Carlsen in the FIDE Chess World Cup, and come the Asian Games, he will be a strong contender for gold medal. Chess is making a return to the Asian Games after 13 years, and the Chennai youngster could not have asked to make a better mark in the continental event.

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10. Bajrang Punia (Wrestling)

Bajrang Punia was India's only gold medallist in Men's Wrestling at the last edition of the Asiad. The Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist is aiming for another similar show at Hangzhou. He infact is eyeing a double after winning back-to-back gold medals in the Commonwealth Games. With India's Ravi Dahiya failing to qualify for the Asiad, the nation's hope in wrestling rests on the 29-year-old Bajrang. The experienced wrestler was even exempted from the Asian Games selection trials and he is gearing to add one more medal to his tally.

Indian Olympic Association President PT Usha on Monday said that the Executive Board (EB) of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has agreed to include yoga in the Asian Games and the OCA General Assembly If approved, it will get a place in the games.

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Usha proposed to include yoga in the Asian Games

PT Usha has written a letter to Randhir Singh, acting president of the Asian Olympic Council, on June 26, proposing to include yoga as a sport in the Asian Games. On Monday Usha confirmed that OCA acting president informed her about the EB's decision.

“I am delighted that the OCA Executive Board spontaneously agreed to India’s request to give yoga the recognition it deserves. The proposal shall now move through the Sports Committee to the General Assembly for confirmation,” PT Usha thanked Randhir Singh in an IOA release.

IOA is hopeful yoga will eventually become a medal sport.

An IOA source said that the first step has been taken towards including Yoga in the Asian Games as a medal sport. The final determination of whether yoga will be a medal sport or a demonstration sport will be made by the OCA General Assembly. Since yoga is widely practiced, the IOA is hopeful it will eventually become a medal sport.

“Whether it will be medal sport or demonstration sport, that will be decided by the OCA General Assembly. It’s the first step. But since Yoga is prevalent worldwide, the IOA is hoping for it to be a medal sport in due course of time,” the source said.

PT Usha indicated that it was a natural progression for the competitive sports community to adopt yoga, especially since it has gained global recognition. Yoga is an ancient Indian sport, which maintains physical and mental health.

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Yogasana Bharat has already received recognition from the Sports Ministry for the development of yogasana as a competitive sport in India. Additionally, Yogasana has been added as a competitive discipline in the Khelo India Youth Games and Khelo India University Games since 2020.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist boxer Lovlina Borgohain won a silver medal in the women's 75kg category at the Czech Grand Prix 2024 in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic.

In the round-robin tournament, Lovlina Borgohain won against Chantelle Reid of England but lost to Cindy Ngamba and Li Qian. Borgohain lost her final match against the reigning Asian Games champion late on Saturday night by a margin of 2-3.

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Qian is a two-time Olympic medalist and has three World Championship medals, including one gold to her name.

Four boxers were included in the women's 75 kg category in this tournament organized under the aegis of World Boxing. Borgohain, Refugee Boxing Team's Cindy Ngamba, Li Qian, and England's Chantelle Reid - and it is being held in a round-robin format.

Borgohain managed only one win in the tournament

Lovlina Borgohain managed only one win in the tournament, losing two of her three matches. This boxer from Assam had won her first match against England's Chantelle Reid by a split decision in a tough match, but later she had to face defeat from Cindy Ngamba and Li Qian. 

Lovlina gunning for her second Olympic medal

The 26-year-old boxer, who is the only Indian to participate in the tournament, is gunning for her second Olympic medal as she is one of the six Indian boxers to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024.

Also Read: Nishant Dev achieves Paris Olympic quota, becomes the first male boxer to do so

Indian boxing team for Paris Games

The Indian boxing team for Paris 2024 is a mix of experienced Olympians and rising stars. In the women's category, Borgohain is joined by two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen (50 kg), Preeti Pawar (54 kg), and Jasmine Lamboria (57 kg). The men's team includes Amit Panghal (51 kg), and Nishant Dev (71 kg).

Asian Games silver medalist Jyothi Yarraji equaled her national record to win the women's 100m hurdles event at the Motonet GP Athletics Meet, but missed qualifying for the Paris Olympics 2024 by just 0.01 seconds. 

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Competing in her third outdoor event of the season, Jyothi Yarraji clocked 12.78 seconds while the Paris Olympics qualification mark is 12.77 seconds. Jamaica’s Crystal Morrisson with 12.87 seconds and Finland’s Lotta Harala with 12.95 seconds settled for the second and third positions, respectively.

Interestingly, the 24-year-old athlete had missed the Olympic entry mark by the same margin at the World University Games in Chengdu, China last year. 

Most recently in April 2024, despite winning the gold medal, Jyothi Yarraji missed the qualifying mark by 0.1 seconds at the Harry Schulting Games at Vught in the Netherlands.

Tejas Shirse also missed Olympic mark

Meanwhile, Tejas Shirse won the men's 110m hurdles with a timing of 13.41 seconds. He broke the previous national record (13.48) set by Siddhanth Thingalaya at the 2017 Altice Invitational meet in the US. But his effort fell short of the Paris Olympics qualification mark of 13.27 seconds by a small margin.

Mohammed Afsal secured the top spot in the men’s 800m event

Mohammed Afsal won the men's 800m with a timing of 1:48.91. In the men's 100m race, 20-year-old Animesh Kujur finished second with a personal best timing of 10.39 seconds, while in the men's 200m national record holder Amlan Borgohain finished fourth in the 100m race with a personal best timing of 10.54 seconds.

The qualification period for the Paris Olympics ends on June 30. 

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Shaili Singh finished second at Trond Mohn Games

Elsewhere, at the Trond Mohn Games, which is also a World Athletics Continental Tour (silver) event in Bergen, Norway, Indian long jumper Shaili Singh finished second at 6.12m.

The star Indian badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty achieved the top position in men's doubles of BWF World Rankings with 99,670 points. The Indian pair achieved this top position by winning the men's double event title of Thailand Open Super 500 badminton. They defeated China's Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi in the final.

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Satwik-Chirag toppled Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang of China to regain their position in the BWF World Rankings. Earlier, the Indian duo was in the third position before the start of the Thailand Open.

Satwik-Chirag has achieved the No. 1 position in the BWF World Rankings for the second time. Earlier, the duo had clinched the top position for the first time after winning the gold medal in the Asian Games. They also became the first Indian pair to achieve this milestone.

The excellent performance of this Indian pair before the Paris Olympics 2024 starting in July is a good sign for the country. 

Earlier, the pair had to face defeat in the pre-quarterfinals of the All England Champions and then Satwik-Chirag's performance in the Thomas Cup was also not good. However, this star pair has once again brought glory to the country by winning the Thailand Open title.

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This was the Asian Games champion pair's second title of the season and ninth BWF World Tour title of their career. Before this, they had won the French Open Super 750 title in March. Apart from this, both were runner-ups in Malaysia Super 1000 and India Super 750.

Indian athlete Jyothi Yarraji won the women's 100m hurdles event at the Harry Schulting Games 2024 athletics meet in the Netherlands on Thursday. However, she was unlucky to miss the qualification mark for the Paris Olympics 2024 by one-tenth of a second. 

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Jyothi finished ahead of Mira Groot 

In her first event of the outdoor season in Europe, Asian Games silver medalist Jyothi Yarraji won the gold medal by clocking 12.87 seconds, ahead of Dutch hurdler Mira Groot, who finished second in 13.67 seconds, while another Dutch Runner Hanna van Baast finished in 13.84 seconds. 

Jyothi Yarraji finished first and clocked 12.87, missing the Olympic entry standard, set at 12.77, by 0.10 seconds. 

Earlier in the day, Jyothi had qualified for the 100m hurdles final with a timing of 13.04 seconds.

This is the second time Jyothi fell short of the qualifying mark

This is the second time that Jyoti, who trains at the Reliance Foundation High-Performance Center in Bhubaneswar, fell short of the qualifying mark by one hundredth of a second after she clocked a national record of 12.78 to clinch a bronze medal at the worlds.

Jyothi Yarraji, who had performed well at the Asian Indoor Season earlier in the year at the University Games in Chengdu, China, will compete in five more events during the Olympic qualifying period, which ends on June 30 this year.

Tejas Shirse won the 110m hurdles 

Meanwhile, Indian men's hurdler Tejas Shirse won the 110m hurdles in the same meet with a personal best timing of 13.56 seconds, ahead of local Dutch athletes Joas van Hellemondt (13.80 seconds) and Jamie Sesay (13.92 seconds). 

In the heats, Shirse came second overall with a timing of 13.78s. The qualifying mark in the men's 110m hurdles for the Paris Olympics is 13.27s. Meanwhile, India's national record in the event stands at 13.48s clocked by Siddhanth Thingalaya in 2017.

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Men's 200m national record holder Amlan Borgohain was also scheduled to compete in Vught on Thursday, but he did not attend the event.