Never Take Sport for Granted: The Asian Games Have Taught Us That

For two-thirds of the Asian Games, India’s campaign seemed to be going nowhere. As often happens in India, people had started abusing and trolling the athletes. All of a sudden, they were public enemy number one, with each of them being trashed and abused. Indians are mentally frail, succumb to pressure and simply aren’t good enough at this stage, went the refrain. Everyone was being painted with the same brush, and if you said anything to the contrary, you weren’t spared either.

Let’s be practical. No one is suggesting this has been the perfect campaign. By no means is that the case.

Tennis was a huge disappointment. Athletics was below par. Shooting, particularly rifle and pistol, did not deliver as expected, while shotgun carried the team. Fencing was a shocker, and rowing left us all asking why we continue to mess things up like this. mchezo.life

But while that is one side of the story, the other is equally relevant.

Three gold medals in boxing, making it India’s best-ever campaign in the sport at the Asian Games. A gold in women’s hockey that secures the ticket to LA28. A women’s recurve team gold after beating mighty South Korea. These, too, are stories of a lifetime and must be celebrated with equal gusto.

For me, these Games have been a mixed bag. If the first half was all disappointment, the second half has been a magical transformation. And that is why you never take sport for granted. Sport will always find a way to surprise you.

The women’s hockey team were relegated from the Pro League just a year ago. Today, they are Asian Games gold medallists and have earned the quota for LA28. Sport has this unique way of turning things around.

And that is why you don’t just mouth off and start trolling.

Lovlina Borgohain now stands as the most successful Indian boxer in Asian Games history. Just a month ago, she was the target of incessant trolling. Today, she is a champion.

The truth is, we aren’t done yet.

We still have men’s hockey, cricket, Dhiraj and Neeraj Chauhan, Aman and Antim, and more. Twenty gold medals suddenly look possible if things go well.

That is my biggest learning from these Games: just keep showing up and sport will reward you.

And that applies to all of us. If you are an athlete, it can take you to the podium. If you are a storyteller like me, it gives you stories to tell, stories that can create a real legacy.

For now, it is time to live the final day of the campaign and hope for a few more gold medals.

And yes, it is India versus Pakistan in cricket once again, a contest that always makes for a real spectacle.

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એશિયન ગેમ્સ 2026માં ભારતના ખેલાડીઓ શાનદાર પ્રદર્શન કરી રહ્યા છે. અત્યાર સુધીની મેડલ ટેલી પ્રમાણે ભારત કુલ 77 મેડલ સાથે પાંચમા સ્થાને છે. ભારતે અત્યાર સુધી 17 ગોલ્ડ, 25 સિલ્વર અને 35 બ્રોન્ઝ મેડલ જીત્યા છે. આ સાથે ભારત એશિયન ગેમ્સની મેડલ ટેલીમાં ટોચના 5 દેશોમાં સ્થાન જાળવી રાખવામાં સફળ રહ્યું છે.

મેડલ ટેલીમાં ચીનનું વર્ચસ્વ

મેડલ ટેલીમાં ચીનનું વર્ચસ્વ જોવા મળી રહ્યું છે. ચીને અત્યાર સુધી સૌથી વધુ 317 મેડલ જીત્યા છે, જેમાં 162 ગોલ્ડ, 81 સિલ્વર અને 74 બ્રોન્ઝ મેડલનો સમાવેશ થાય છે. ચીન 317 મેડલ સાથે પ્રથમ સ્થાને છે અને બીજા ક્રમે રહેલા જાપાન કરતાં તેના મેડલની સંખ્યા ઘણી વધારે છે.જાપાન 240 મેડલ સાથે બીજા સ્થાને છે. જાપાને અત્યાર સુધી 72 ગોલ્ડ, 83 સિલ્વર અને 85 બ્રોન્ઝ મેડલ જીત્યા છે. જાપાનના કુલ મેડલમાં સિલ્વર અને બ્રોન્ઝ મેડલની સંખ્યા ગોલ્ડ કરતાં વધારે છે.

દક્ષિણ કોરિયા ત્રીજા સ્થાને

દક્ષિણ કોરિયા 135 મેડલ સાથે ત્રીજા સ્થાને છે. દક્ષિણ કોરિયાના ખાતામાં અત્યાર સુધી 33 ગોલ્ડ, 40 સિલ્વર અને 62 બ્રોન્ઝ મેડલ છે. ત્યારબાદ ઉઝબેકિસ્તાન 65 મેડલ સાથે ચોથા સ્થાને છે. ઉઝબેકિસ્તાને 20 ગોલ્ડ, 23 સિલ્વર અને 22 બ્રોન્ઝ મેડલ જીત્યા છે.

ભારતના ખાતામાં 17 ગોલ્ડ

ભારત માટે એશિયન ગેમ્સ 2026માં અત્યાર સુધીનો દેખાવ મહત્વનો રહ્યો છે. ભારતીય ખેલાડીઓએ વિવિધ રમતોમાં કુલ 17 ગોલ્ડ મેડલ જીત્યા છે. આ ઉપરાંત ભારતે 25 સિલ્વર અને 35 બ્રોન્ઝ મેડલ પણ મેળવ્યા છે. એટલે ભારતના કુલ મેડલની સંખ્યા 77 થઈ છે.ભારત માટે ખાસ વાત એ છે કે બ્રોન્ઝ મેડલની સંખ્યા સૌથી વધુ છે. ભારતના કુલ 77 મેડલમાંથી 35 બ્રોન્ઝ, 25 સિલ્વર અને 17 ગોલ્ડ મેડલ છે. મેડલ ટેલીમાં ભારતથી આગળ માત્ર ચીન, જાપાન, દક્ષિણ કોરિયા અને ઉઝબેકિસ્તાન છે.

ઈરાન 6મા સ્થાને

મેડલ ટેલીમાં ઈરાન 45 મેડલ સાથે છઠ્ઠા ક્રમે છે. ઈરાને અત્યાર સુધી 15 ગોલ્ડ, 17 સિલ્વર અને 13 બ્રોન્ઝ મેડલ જીત્યા છે. ઈરાન અને ભારત વચ્ચે કુલ મેડલની સંખ્યામાં 32 મેડલનો તફાવત છે.એશિયન ગેમ્સ 2026 હજુ આગળ વધી રહી હોવાથી મેડલ ટેલીમાં આગામી દિવસોમાં ફેરફાર જોવા મળી શકે છે. ભારત પાસે વિવિધ રમતોમાં વધુ મેડલ જીતવાની તકો છે. ભારતીય ખેલાડીઓના પ્રદર્શન પર હવે રમતપ્રેમીઓની નજર રહેશે.

આ પણ વાંચો - Asian Games 2026 Medal Tally : મેડલ ટેલીમાં ભારતે લગાવી મોટી છલાંગ,જાણો કયા સ્થાને

Team India is set to lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asian Games 2026 final. The match is scheduled to be played on October 3 at the Aichi Prefectural Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin.

Ahead of the match, cricket fans in Varanasi have performed special prayers for Team India's victory.

#WATCH | Varanasi, UP: Ahead of the India and Pakistan men’s T20 final in the Asian Games 2026 in Japan today, cricket fans are performing special prayers for the team's victory. pic.twitter.com/kTCNPOff60

— ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2026

Under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer, the "Men in Blue" have stormed in the final with a dominant win by a huge margin of 124 runs against Sri Lanka in the semi-final. Earlier, their quarter-final against Afghanistan was abandoned due to persistent rain.

Team India will enter the final as defending champions in the continental event, as the side previously won the gold medal in the Hangzhou 2023 Games. In the previous edition in 2023, Team India was awarded the gold medal as the final match against Afghanistan was washed out. The "Men in Blue" were the higher-ranked side, taking the top spot.

Pakistan, meanwhile, will be aiming to claim the first-ever men's Asian Games cricket gold, with their women's team having previously won the top prize in the competition.

Aichi-Nagoya 2026, however, has different provisions. If rain or other conditions prevent the gold medal match from being completed, a Super Over will be used to determine the winner. If the Super Over itself cannot be completed, both teams will share the gold medal.

India hold the upper hand in the head-to-head record against Pakistan, having won 14 of their 17 T20 encounters, with three defeats. India also enter the final on a six-match winning streak against their arch-rivals, who last defeated them in a T20 clash in 2022.

Asian Games 2026, IND vs PAK: Full squads

India: Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Vipraj Nigam, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Sanju Samson, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Washington Sundar, Yash Thakur.

Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan (c), Abdul Samad (vc), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Arafat Minhas, Haider Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Wasim, Saad Masood, Saim Ayub, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan.

(With ANI Inputs)

At 17, Kumkum Mohod is already learning that some of the biggest moments in sport are won long before the competition begins.

At Chugo Suo Park Arena, with an Asian Games gold medal and an Olympic dream hanging in the balance, the teenager stood up for the decisive shoot-off against South Korea’s Oh Ye-jin. The contest had finished 5-5. One arrow would decide everything.

Mohod had already seen this moment in her mind.

“I visualised a 10 before the shoot-off and have been practising visualising since the start of the Games,” she said.

Then she did exactly what she had imagined. A perfect 10 under immense pressure gave Mohod the gold and made her the first Indian woman to win an individual recurve title at the Asian Games. It also secured India a quota place for the LA 2028 Olympic Games.

For Mohod, however, the shoot-off was not an isolated moment of brilliance. It was the culmination of a process she had been following throughout the Games.

“I kept my focus on my own performance and not who I was playing,” she said.

Visualisation and breathing have become part of that process. The Indian archery team works on both during training, but Mohod also made sure to continue the routine at the competition venue.

“We have a session for visualisation and breathing training,” she explained. “We do it in training and at the ground we do this visualisation training. We do it every day here as well in the venue. I visualised that I had shot perfect 10s. This was a process.”

That process was tested repeatedly in the final.

Mohod trailed 1-3 before producing a perfect score to level the contest at 3-3. She then found herself 3-5 down, with the gold within reach of her Korean opponent. Once again, she refused to let the situation dictate her performance.

Another perfect score forced the shoot-off.

And when the moment arrived, Mohod delivered the 10 she had already seen in her mind.

The teenager’s personality away from the range is almost the complete opposite of the drama she produced on it. Quiet and reserved, she says she does not like to celebrate too much. There is, however, one small indulgence she is happy to make an exception for.

“I don’t like to celebrate much but I do like ice cream. Butterscotch.”

There are other glimpses into the life of a teenager who is still balancing her studies with a rapidly rising sporting career. Before archery took over, studies came naturally to her.

“I was quite good in studies,” she said. “Maths is my favourite subject.”

She also paints, and one of her favourite memories from the build-up to the Asian Games came during a group painting session at camp. The athletes painted a nature scene and presented it to their coach, Udham Singh.

Away from both books and the archery range, Mohod is much like any other teenager. She enjoys watching Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah and comedy shows, while her music preference is decidedly more reflective.

“I do love listening to slow melancholic songs,” she said.

But beneath the quiet personality is a teenager who has carried an enormous sporting dream for years.

“I used to dream of the Olympics as a child and today I got the quota. A dream come true moment.”

The Asian Games have already given Mohod three medals, gold in the women’s individual and team events and silver in the mixed team event. But the individual gold will carry a different weight.

It was history. It was an Olympic quota. And, perhaps most importantly, it was a moment she had already lived through in her imagination.

Then came the perfect 10.

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