Indian athletes all set for Asian Games challenge in Incheon

As the countdown for the Asian Games enters the final stretch, TOI begins to assess India's chances in various disciplines. Here's an overview of what we can expect from our jumbo contingent when the event begins in Incheon on September 19.
Till not too long ago, when an Olympic medal seemed beyond the reach of Indian athletes, the Asian Games were their only route to ultimate glory.A podium finish in the continent's biggest games also promised something even more coveted: the Arjuna Award.
On top of the list of India's heroics at the Asiads would be PT Usha's golden haul in Seoul (1986) and goal keeper Ashish Ballal's sensational saves in the men's hockey final that took the country to gold in Bangkok (1998). Volleyball fans might be happy to go further back to 1962, when India bagged the silver at Jakarta.
Over the years, the Arjuna got eclipsed by the Khel Ratna, while at the same time standards at the Asian Games went up drastically, making India struggle for each and every medal.
The last edition, however, proved to be an exception with India producing its best show with a haul of 65 medals (including 14 gold). It bagged them the sixth place, though way behind leaders China who cornered 199 gold.
Guangzhou's effort was a marked improvement, especially given the depths the Indian athletes had touched in Beijing (1990) where they finished with their worst ranking ever (11th) after winning just one gold medal through Kabaddi.
Since then, they have been steadily improving, managing a top-10 finish in all the subsequent editions.
This time around, sports officials are confident that India will touch the 70-medal mark in Incheon; but, with a slew of high profile pullouts (including Sushil Kumar, Somdev Devvarman and Vijender Singh) and a shadow over the boxers' participation, the final tally may well be way below expectations.
Athletics (12), boxing (9) and shooting (8) accounted for nearly half of India's tally in 2010 and the country's fortunes will revolve around these three disciplines once again. Prominent among the gold medal hopes in athletics are Commonwealth Games champion Vikas Gowda (men's discus), women's 4x400m and triple jumper Arpinder.
From the Nikolai Snesarev's camp OP Jaisha (women's 1500m) looks the best bet. There are quite a few others who can surprise, including KT Irfan and Tintu Luka, but a med al may still be out of their reach.
Shooting may well be one sport that may surpass all expectations, with the likes of Jitu N Prakash (both in pistol) and Apurvi Chan Rai and PN Prakash (both in pistol) and Apurvi Chandela (women's 10m air rifle) in hot form. Adding to the mix will be Olympic heroes Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar, even though the latter is troubled by an injury.
The return of former stalwarts Samresh Jung and Anjali Bhagwat will also be keenly followed. The Indian archers will be eager to leave their mark on the Games after missing the competition in Glasgow. Apart from the unpredictable Deepika Kumari, there are a couple of others too who can push for medals.
If they get the green signal, the Indian boxers too will carry a strong punch, with at least a couple likely to last the distance. Olympic hero Mary Kom has made a strong comeback and will fancy her chances. So will Akhil Kumar and Co. among the men.
Badminton fans will fancy their chances through PV Sindhu and P Kashyap while squash has stars in Dipika Pallikal and Sourav Ghosal. Wrestlers, led by Olympic hero Yogeshwar Dutt, will aim to improve their tally. Also expected on the podium are Amit Kumar and Babita Kumari. India will also look for medals in at least two team events, other than kabaddi.
In men's hockey, Sardar Singh and his team will be looking to repeat their fine performance in Glasgow. The other sport that is riding high on confidence is men's volleyball, especially after winning their maiden silver at last month's Asian championships. India's standards are still way off the Asian benchmarks, except perhaps in 10-12 disciplines. We should not expect much to change at Incheon. A total haul of 50-60 medals, and a top-10 finish, is all that the jumbo contingent can hope for.
SANIA WILL PLAY IN ASIAD
In a significant development, Sania Mirza has agreed to play in the upcoming Asian Games, two days after AITA announced that they would allow top players to miss the Incheon event, keeping in mind their requirements on the professional circuit. Sania's decision means that the Hyderabadi has put on line 900 ranking points, which she had to defend on the tour during the period of the Games. Sania will miss Wuhan WTA event.
Though she will play in Tokyo, where she is defending champion. "I was feeling weird, I was not feeling happy with my decision, so I thought I will play. I know I am sacrificing 900 points, but sometimes you have to take a decision," Sania said before leaving for Tokyo. After the Games, Sania will compete in China ear-old Barman is hoping for some luck. AFP TOTAL SQUAD 679
SAWARN TO LEAD INDIAN ROWERS
Well-known Indian rowers Sawarn Singh and Bajrang Lal Takhar will lead a 36-member squad for the upcoming Asian Games to be held in Incheon, announced the Rowing Federation of India on Friday. The team consists of 22 men, nine women, besides four coaches and a physio. The team will leave for the Games from Hyderabad on Sept. 14.
Squad (Men): Single Sculls (M1x): Sawarn Singh; Light single sculls (LM1X): Dushyant; Light double sculls (LM2X): Roopender Singh, Manjeet Singh; Double sculls (M2X): Om Prakash, Bhokanal Dattu; Light quadruple sculls (LM4X): Rakesh Raliya, Vikram Singh, Sonu Laxmi Naraian, Shokendar Tomar; Open coxed eights (M8+): Kapil Sharma, Robin P U, Ranjit Singh, Bajrang Lal Takhar, Ranjit Singh, Davinder Singh, Mohammad Azad, Maninder Singh, Sawan Kumar Kalkal, Md. Ahmed. Women: Coxless pairs (W2-): Sanjukta Dung Tarunikha Pratap; Light quadruple sculls (LW4X): Dittymol Varghese, Kh. Monalisha Chanu, Th. Chaoba Devi, Manjula Xess; Quadruple sculls (W4X): N. Lakshmi Devi, Sanjukta Dung, Amanjot Kaur, Navneet Kaur.
SHARATH, ANTONY IN TT SQUAD
A 10-member table tennis team spearheaded by Sharath Kamal will be representing India at the Incheon Asian Games.
The team was selected on the basis of the players' national and international ranking, besides keeping in mind the current form too. The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) had sent the names to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) which, in turn, had recommended them to the sports ministry for clearance. The Teams: Men A. Sharath Kamal, Soumyajit Ghosh, Harmeet Desai, Antony Amalraj and Sanil Shetty; Women Ankita Das, Madhurika Patkar, Poulomi Ghatak, Manika Batra and Neha Aggarwal.