Sports Ministry to review India’s Asian Games showing and injury disclosures on October 13
The Sports Ministry will review India’s performance at the recently concluded Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya at a one-day meeting with national sports federations on October 13. The session will scrutinise underwhelming results in badminton, shooting and parts of athletics and will examine injury disclosures made after athletes reached the Games.
India finished fourth in the overall medal table with 85 medals — 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze — at the Games, which ended on October 4. It was the country's second-highest haul but fell short of the 106 medals won at Hangzhou in 2023. The ministry had said before the Games that more than Rs 700 crore had been spent preparing the Indian contingent over the three-year cycle. "Some experienced athletes were clearly in a comfort zone and it reflected in their performance. The National federations will be involved and a meeting is likely in the next few days, probably October 13 or 14," a Sports Ministry source said on Thursday. "Another issue was injuries. Players were declaring injuries after reaching the Games, how is that fair. Crores have been spent in preparing them," he said.
Several prominent athletes were absent or competed with injury concerns: two-time Olympic javelin medallist Neeraj Chopra missed the Games after suffering an ankle ligament tear in training following the Lausanne Diamond League. Weightlifter Chanambam Rishikanta Singh withdrew with a knee injury. In athletics, Tejas Shirse and Shahnawaz Khan were ruled out with injuries while Jyothi Yarraji and Praveen Chithravel were cleared despite carrying niggles. Tennis player Yuki Bhambri entered the Games with a thigh injury concern.
Badminton produced a single medal for India — a bronze in the men's team event — and no individual medals for the first time in 12 years. Defending men's doubles champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost in the opening round to Thailand's Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun, winning the first game 21-12 before losing 19-21, 14-21 and exiting after 68 minutes. PV Sindhu lost to China's Chen Yufei in the quarterfinals, winning the opening game 21-11 before losing 18-21, 10-21. Unnati Hooda bowed out in the last eight, while Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto also suffered quarterfinal defeats.
Shooting yielded 15 medals — three gold, eight silver and four bronze — a decline from the 22 medals including seven golds at Hangzhou. Manu Bhaker finished fifth in the women's 10m air pistol final after qualifying third, scoring 181.1 in the final and returning from the Games without a medal after competing in four events. There were successes in shotgun: Neeru Dhanda won women's trap gold and teamed with Kynan Chenai to win mixed trap gold. The pistol events, including those featuring established names, produced fewer medals than previously.
Athletics contributed 24 medals overall — one gold, nine silver and 14 bronze — with the gold count falling from six at Hangzhou to one in Aichi-Nagoya. India's solitary athletics gold came in the women's 4x400m relay, where Kiran Pahal, M.R. Poovamma, Prachi Choudhary and Vithya Ramraj recorded 3:29.69. Gulveer Singh won three medals across the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m, Sawan Berwal secured marathon silver and Sarvesh Kushare earned high-jump bronze.
The October 13 review is expected to extend beyond the medal tally to examine preparation, injury management, athlete selection and the effectiveness of TOPS support. With the Los Angeles Olympics less than two years away, organisers said the meeting will offer an opportunity to identify areas that need correction before India's next major international targets.