As the Asian Games involves an finish after 14 days of medals, record-breaking numbers, and historic firsts for Indian sport, it is time to look within the rearview mirror.

Some athletes exceeded expectations, some gained anticipated golds and another took house gorgeous bronze that shine simply as shiny whereas a number of even punched above their weight.

When watching 14 days of continuous, multi-sport motion, it is easy to neglect a few of the most standout moments that will or could not have been medals. So, this is our try to recap the Asiad by way of moments we merely did not count on to occur. The good, the nice, the sensible and even some weird moments for Indian sport.

Here are the Indian moments at Asian Games we didn’t see coming:

Iss baar sau paar – This time greater than 100

A confession proper on the onset – the goal of 100 medals appeared just a little audacious when this advert slogan was launched by the broadcasters. Only three different nations had gained 100 medals or extra in a single version of the Asian Games earlier than this – China, Japan, and South Korea. India definitely had the power, however plenty of transferring components needed to fall in place for this.

107: Beyond the record stat, a collection of inspiring stories

India’s athletes stepped up and the way, confirming 100 medals even earlier than the ultimate day’s play and completed with an unprecedented 107 medals in Hangzhou. This was greater than a 50% enhance from the 2018 version.

P.S. There had been questions over crew medals in taking pictures being (based mostly on cumulative qualification rating, not there final time) however these had been about 10-odd. This haul needs to be fully attributed to the athletes and their effort, the technicalities take nothing away from the feat.

Mukherjee magic

To beat China in China in a sport dominated by China, there are few adjectives that may precisely seize what a mind-blowing outcome that was; and that is what Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee did. They pulled off one of the great wins in Indian sporting historical past beating China’s world no. 2 Chen Meng and world no. 4 Wang Yidi in a sensational quarterfinal.

This is so good to see ❤️

(by way of revolve_around_sun/IG) pic.twitter.com/8CSxPT4xFY

– ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) October 7, 2023

It was India’s solely third Asian Games medal within the sport, and first in girls’s doubles.

An Indian going past Neeraj?

Neeraj Chopra is the reigning Olympic and World champion – not one thing Indian followers get to say usually. So, for somebody to have him topped him early in a significant ultimate, and for that to be a fellow Indian who was throwing his private greatest was surreal and particular.

Neeraj wins gold, Kishore silver; their ‘battle’ wins hearts and minds

That’s precisely what Kishore Kumar Jena did, topping Neeraj on the charts briefly. Of course, Neeraj bounced again with an 88.88 and defended his gold. As Jena mentioned afterward, “Pata tha bhaisaab kar lenge’.

P.S. Neeraj’s first throw may have been much bigger, but it was not counted because of some unexplained official error. The sorry level of officiating in athletics was another thing we didn’t expect to see at this level. Jyothi Yarraji was wrongly disqualified for a false start and Jena’s throw was wrongly called foul too.

Jyothi Yarraji wins silver in 100m hurdles after dramatic ‘disqualification’

Parul Choudhary’s final burst

On Monday, Parul won a steeplechase silver, behind only the world champion. About 24 hours later, she was back on the track running the women’s 5000m. A gruelling schedule. No athlete had medalled in both these events together before at the Asian Games. But Parul went ahead and did it.

With stunning last-gasp win, double medallist Parul Chaudhary creates Asian Games history

And it’s the manner in which she did it… The sight of her overtaking Ririka Hironaka, who was checking for competition on the right, unseen from the left was the stuff movie climax sequences are made of.

Indian volleyball team balling

Even before the Asian Games officially began, one Indian team was quietly flipping the script in Hangzhou.

The Indian men’s volleyball team went there with little to no expectation, what hope could a team forced to fund their travel while pawning their family jewellery a few years back could have?

India’s volleyball team beat silver and bronze holders in unlikely winning run

Yet they pulled off an unlikely run defeating two higher ranked sides, teams who had won silver and bronze the last time, to show what they were capable of. They finished sixth overall but gave a very good account of themselves.

India medalling in every athletics event one evening

One Sunday evening, if you opened the schedule and results tab on the official website, you’d see the Indian flag next to every medal event in the evening session.

Tajinderpal Singh Toor – defends gold in shot put

Avinash Sable – dominated steeplechase with a Bolt-like lookback moment

Jyothi Yarraji – overcomes bad officiating to win a hurdles silver

Seema Punia – wins her third discus medal at 40 years of age

India medal in each athletics ultimate on the #AsianGames in the present day �� ���� pic.twitter.com/1iCZmKhkSp

– ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) October 1, 2023

India has usually done well in athletics at the Asian Games, but this kind of churn in one session was amazing.

Anant Jeet Singh Naruka’s incredible skeet final

Imagine a 25-year-old old shooter in his first Asian Games facing off against a 60-year-old veteran of the sport who was winning World Championships the year you were born? And then imagine keeping pace with this legend for 80% of the final.

The Indian finished with a silver in the end as the Kuwait won gold with a perfect 60/60. It was an incredible final on a day India had medalled in two other shooting finals, which perhaps pushed Naruka a bit under the radar. But it was an extraordinary effort from the youngster.

Compound domination

When was the last time India dominated an event so thoroughly at the Asian Games that they won every single gold on offer? Compound archery was that rare clean sweep for India in Hangzhou, winning five out of the five gold medals in offer, plus one silver and a bronze.

5/5: Compound archers pull off gold medal sweep, now over to the system to back them

India has four reigning world champions in compound but not many have heard of them or support them because it’s not an Olympic discipline. But those constant perfect bullseyes from three-gold winners Ojas Deotale and Jyothi Surekha Vennam should help bring in the spotlight now.

The Kabaddi Kerfuffle

A game review that takes longer than the actual match. A sit-down protest in the middle of a major final with players refusing to follow the referee’s decision. Officials who are unsure what the actual rules are, changing their calls and deciding whether to follow the international code or that of the Indian league.

India win men’s kabaddi gold after controversial final against Iran involving one hour stoppage

The kerfuffle in the men’s kabaddi final between India and Iran is not something seen at major competitions, and hopefully something we don’t see ever again. This was an overall mess and takes away the shine from India reclaiming the gold they had lost the last time around.

Sift, Palak dominating finals

That Indian shooting would do well at the Asian Games was expected. That they would win team medals which show the depth and consistency, was also known. What still came as a surprise though was how dominant some of these gold medals were.

Sift Kaur Samra, 22, became India’s first individual gold medallist in Hangzhou with one of the most commanding performances seen in a 50m rifle 3 positions final; finishing a whopping 7.3 points ahead of the silver medallist, just the reigning world champion, Zhang Qiongyue of China.

Sift Kaur Samra: Once med student, now world-record gold medallist at Asian Games

Palak Gulia, all of 17, shot an Asian Games record score of 242.1 in women’s 10m air pistol, ahead of 18-year-old compatriot Esha Singh to ensure a double-podium for India.

‘She has a great stability of mind’ – how teenager Esha Singh thrived under chaos to clinch silver

Medals in wushu, roller-skating, sepaktakraw, bridge

These sports fly under the radar because of how rarely we see them and partly because they are not exactly Indian strongholds. But these sports played a major role in the 100-medal mark.

Special shout out to Roshibina Devi Naorem, who won a silver despite personal setbacks such as the unrest back home in Manipur and the absence of her colleagues because China does not issue a standard visa to Arunachal Pradesh citizens.

After private setbacks, Manipuri wushu medallist Roshibina’s cloud lastly has a silver lining

Honourable mentions

1. Abhay Singh (25) making a number of comebacks to beat heavyweights Pakistan within the squash males’s crew ultimate – a match worthy of being a sports activities drama.

2. India coming very, very near beating China in males’s crew badminton ultimate – this was India’s first ever ultimate towards a standard powerhouse of the game and it may effectively have been a gold if not for an harm to No 1 singles participant HS Prannoy.

3. Etro and rider Anush Agarwalla trotting out to a medley of Bollywood music headlined by Oscar-winning Jai Ho. They had been a part of the Indian crew that gained a historic equestrian dressage crew gold and this routine gained him a person bronze.

4. Away from the limelight, Vithya Ramraj equalled considered one of Indian athletics’ longest standing report – PT Usha’s mark in 400m hurdles set within the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics – with a time of 55.42 seconds within the heats. She ran simply in need of that mark (55.68 seconds) within the ultimate to say bronze.