How have India performed at the Asian Games over the years?

Athletics has been India’s most successful sport at the Asian Games while the nation has also done well in shooting and wrestling.

The 19^th edition of the Asian Games will take place in the Chinese city of Huangzhou. The continental games are expected to get underway on September 23 and India has had a remarkable history since the first edition of the Asian Games almost 72 years ago.

While athletics has proven to be a particularly successful pursuit for the nation at the Games, wrestling and shooting has also provided the country with plenty of historic and fairytale moments. In recent years, India have also been quite successful in several other avenues that we will be discussing below.

How have India done at each and every Asian Games?

1951 Asian Games

Only 11 countries took part in the very first edition of the Asian Games. This led to India securing an amazing finish in the medal tally as the nation was ranked second after winning 51 medals at the event held in New Delhi.

The inaugural edition of the Asian Games is the only edition in history where India has found a place on the podium for cycling. Rohinton Noble and Netai Chand Bysack's bronze medals in Men's Spring and 1km time trial are still India's only individual cycling medals.

1954 Asian Games

The second edition of the Asian Games saw a lot more participation which directly impacted India’s medal tally. India finished with only 17 medals - the worst tally at the Asian Games to date. Sarwan Singh (110m Hurdle), Ajit Singh Balla (High Jump), and Parduman Singh Brar (Shot Put and Discus Throw) were the only Indian athletes to return home with gold in individual events.

1958 Asian Games

The 1958 Asian Games will always be remembered for the heroics of Milkha Singh who claimed his position as the fastest man in Asia. The Flying Sikh won the gold medals in the 200m and 400m categories. The Indian men's volleyball team also clinched bronze at the 1958 Asian Games would mark India's first Volleyball medal at the Asiad.

1962 Asian Games

Indian boxing would receive its first Asian Games gold medallist with Padam Bahadur Mall becoming champion. Gurbachan Singh Randhawa went on to bring home India's first Decathlon gold at the Asiad and Elizabeth Davenport became the first Indian to clinch medals in Javelin in two successive editions of the Asiad.

1966 Asian Games

The 1966 Asian Games is regarded as a watershed moment in the history of the Indian sports, and particularly hockey. The men’s hockey team won its first ever Asian Games gold medal at the Bangkok edition. After finishing as the runners-up in the previous two editions, the men’s team finally broke the jinx and were crowned as champions.

1970 Asian Games

The last time the Indian football team proved its credential as serious challengers in the continent was during the 1970 Asian Games when PK Banerjee and co won the bronze medal. The national side has failed to secure a podium finish ever since then.

Kamaljeet Sandhu also made history by becoming the first Indian woman to win an individual gold medal at the Asian Games, achieving this feat in the 400m discipline with a timing of 57.3 seconds.

1974 Asian Games

India won 11 gold medals at the 1974 Asian Games and eight of them arrived from athletics. It was a grand showing from Ramaswamy Gnanasekaran and Hari Chand. While Gnanasekaran secured gold in the men's 100m and silver in the men's 200m, Hari Chand's fate with glory resulted in gold medals in the 5000m and 10,000m disciplines.

1978 Asian Games

The ‘78 Asian Games will be remembered for TC Yohannan’s golden leap in the field of long jump. His gold-medal crowning effort also produced a national record that stood for over three decades. Randhir Singh also became the first Indian to win gold in shooting after winning in Men’s trap shooting.

1982 Asian Games

The 1982 Asian Games proved to be the second Asiad to be hosted in the country, almost 31 years after the first edition held in New Delhi.

As equestrian made its Asiad debut, India won its first equestrian medals when Raghubir Singh and Rupinder Singh Brar won individual gold medals and the Indian team secured gold in the team event. India would not win another equestrian medal till the heroics of Fouaad Mirza in 2018.

The legendary shuttler Syed Modi also won a bronze medal in badminton, marking India’s first individual Asian Games medal in the sport.

Women's hockey made its grand debut in 1982 and the Indian women's national hockey team would go on a rampage of a historic undefeated run to clinch gold.

1986 Asian Games

The 1986 Asian Games came to be known as the PT Usha Games who was at her majestic best during this tournament. The legendary athlete registered five medals in athletics with four of them being gold medals. Usha placed first in the 200m, 400m, 400m Hurdles, and 4x400m women's relay and shattered the Asian Games record in all of the events. However, she had to settle for silver in the 100m race.

The 1986 Asian Games also marked India's first volleyball medal as the Indian contingent secured bronze. With the introduction of Judo at the Asian Games, India brought back four bronze Judo medals.

1990 Asian Games

India’s dominance in kabaddi began with the 1990 Asian Games. The team won a gold medal and continued to be crowned champions in each and every Asiad until the most recent one in 2018.

1994 Asian Games

Johnny Rommel and Siji Kumar Sadanandan would record India's first and only canoeing medal at the Asian Games. The duo secured bronze in the Men's C2 1000m event.

1998 Asian Games

Billiards was introduced in the Asian Games for the first time in 1998. Ashok Sandliya marked the occasion with a gold in English Billiards singles and proceed to pair up with Geet Sethi to win another gold in English Billiards doubles.

2002 Asian Games

Sunita Rani proved to be the revelation at the 2002 Asian Games as she not only won the gold medal, but also set a Games record in the 1500m category with a timing of 4:06:03. Anju Bobby George also found her spot in the limelight after winning the gold medal in women’s long jump.

2006 Asian Games

Saurav Ghosal's bronze in the men's singles event led to India's first individual medal in Squash. India also won its first medal in archery with the men’s team winning bronze in the recurve team event. Meanwhile, Humpy Koneru won a historic gold medal in chess and it proved to be India’s first individual gold in that sport.

2010 Asian Games

The 2010 Asiad witnessed India's only medal in gymnastics to date with Ashish Kumar securing a memorable bronze in the men's artistic floor event. Women’s kabaddi made its debut in the 2010 Asian Games and the Indian women’s team celebrated the occasion by lifting the gold medal.

2014 Asian Games

The iconic Mary Kom announced herself to the grand stage by dominating the Flyweight 51kg category and consequently, became the first Indian woman to clinch gold in boxing at the Asiad. Archery also soared to new heights with the men’s team winning its first Asiad gold in the Compound Men's team event.

2018 Asian Games

India managed to cross the 70-medal tally for the first time at the 2018 Asian Games. Future Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra announced himself to the world by becoming the first Indian to clinch javelin gold with a then-national record throw of 88.06m.

PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal won silver and bronze respectively in women’s badminton while Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian woman to win a wrestling gold at the Asiad.