Top 10 Indian individual performances at Asian Games

India ended the 2014 Asian Games with 57 medals. While the total did not meet expectations, there were certain individuals who rose up to the highest levels to deliver outstanding performances. These are the best inidivudal performances by Indians at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

#10 Abhinav Bindra

India’s top shooter Abhinav Bindra won his first Asian Games individual medal after clinching bronze in the men’s 10 metre air rifle event. The 31-year-old Indian finished third with a final score of 187.1. Bindra also went to win the bronze medal in the 10 metre air rifle men’s team event with the help of shooters Ravi Kumar and Sanjeev Rajput.

#9 Khushbir Kaur

Khushbir Kaur won the silver medal in the 20km race walk and became the first Indian woman to do so in the history of the Asian Games. The 21-year-old has set a national record in the process, clocking 1 hour, 33 minutes and 07 seconds.

#8 Tintu Luka

Tintu Lanka (left)

Tintu Lanka had a wonderful performance at the Asian Games, bagging a silver medal and a gold medal in Incheon. She won the silver medal in the 800m dash and was a crucial runner in the 4 x 400m gold medal winning team.

#7 Sarita Devi

Sarita Devi might have had to settle for bronze, but she definitely deserved to win the gold or the silver medal. Unfortunately robbed of the chance to fight in the final of the women’s lightweight (60kg) boxing event, Devi was showing signs of a champion throughout the competition. She had clearly outpowered and outperformed Korean Jina Park in the semi-finals. She might have not won gold, but she won a million Indian hearts.

#6 Abhishek Verma

Abhishek Verma picked up the silver medal after narrowly losing in the final of the archery compound men’s individual event at the Asian Games. On the same day, Verma added another medal after helping India win gold in the men’s compound team event.

#5 Saurav Ghosal

Saurav Ghosal created history by winning India’s first Asian Games silver medal in men’s squash singles event. The talented Indian also helped the men’s squash team win the gold medal in the team event.

#4 Seema Punia

Seema Punia (centre)

Discuss thrower Seema Punia fended off competition from Chinese opposition to win the gold medal at Incheon. The Indian’s fourth throw covered 61.03 metres, which was enough to win India’s only individual gold medal in athletics at the 2014 Asian Games.

#3 Jitu Rai

For World No. 1 in 10m air pistol, Jitu Rai, there is only one direction to move- forwards. The Nepalese born shooter, continues to break records and win medals at international stages. Currently ranked 4^th in 50m air pistol, Rai won the gold medal in the event at the Asian Games. As it turned out to be, it was India’s first gold in Incheon. He also helped the Indian team win the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol team event.

#2 Yogeshwar Dutt

Yogeshwar Dutt ended India’s 28-year gold drought after winning the gold medal in men’s 65kf freestyle. The Indian wrestler beat Zalimkhan Yusupov of Tajikistan by 3-0 points to take top honours.

Dutt consistently performed throughout the tournament. The Commonwealth Games gold medalist, trailed Chinese wrestler Yeerlanbieke Katai 7-9 with seconds to go in the semi-finals. However, Dutt made a superb move to pin Katai down and win the match 5-0 in a victory by fall verdict.

#1 Mary Kom

Indian boxing sensation MC Mary Kom created history at the Asian Games in Incheon. The 31-year-old mother of three, won the gold medal in the women’s flyweight (47-51 kg) after defeating Shekerbekova Zhaina of Kazakhstan.

Mary Kom had to go through qualification to make it to the Indian boxing contingent. She managed to do so by beating Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Pinki Jhangra in the qualification round. Since then, Magnificent Mary did not look back. She ended up winning the gold medal, capping the best performance by an Indian at the Asian Games.