Asian Games 2010 Medal Tally: Sensational run by the Indian trio

The stars in the Indian contingent may have flattered to deceive, but the lesser known performers have certainly come to the party at the Asian Games in Guangzhou on Sunday. While the shooters — having won no less than 30 medals at the Delhi Commonwealth Games (CWG) — were expected to lead India’s medal hunt, they managed to clinch just one gold, causing a lot of despondency in the Indian camp. But all that changed on Sunday as the troika of Preeja Sreedharan (gold), Sudha Singh (gold) and Kavita Raut (silver) made it an evening to remember for India as the track and field events took off at the Aoti arena.

Back home, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, former chairman of the selection committee of the Athletics Federation of India, said that the tactical acumen of India’s middle-distance athletics team coach Nikolai Snesarev was the reason behind the girls’ success. “I have always said that timing a race, especially in middle and long-distance runs is a must. If we take a close look, we will see that all the three girls timed their runs to perfection and the credit for that must go to coach Snesarev.

“They edged ahead at the right time. Till the last 100 metres, neither Preeja nor Kavita were in the top-three slot. While Japan’s Kayoko Fukushi led initially, Shitaya Habtegebrel of Bahrain took over for a while before it became a three-way contest between Fukushi, her teammate Hikari Yoshimoto and Habtegebrel,” Randhawa said. “All this while, the Indians were not to be seen. As the runners approached the last lap, Preeja and Kavita took control and raced home. Even Sudha withstood a late challenge by China’s Jin Yuan and clinched the gold. The way she kept up the pace in the last few seconds is definitely praiseworthy. Immaculate calculation is all I would say,” he said.

“Another very important aspect has been that Snesarev has constantly trained his pupils in tough Indian conditions rather than taking them to Ukraine or any other European destination. I think that has really helped the girls as all three have made us proud. “I believe this is just the beginning as the likes of Krishna Poonia and the 4X400 women’s relay team are certainly considered to be medal hopes. I expect medals in other categories as well, like the 5000m. I am not saying I expect a gold, but definitely some medal.”

But Randhawa was quick to point out that this sudden surge doesn’t mean that the level at the Asiad is similar to that at the CWG. “The Asiad is a different ball game and comparing it with the CWG would be foolish. The level of competition wasn’t that tough at the CWG as compared to the Asiad and all the hype surrounding the sportspersons after the CWG had definitely made me a sceptic. Even if they end up picking up half of the 101 medals clinched at the CWG, I would be more than happy.”

Medal Tally :

Rank - Country - Gold - Silver - Bronze - Total Medals
1 - China - 146 - 71 - 70 - 287
2 - South Korea - 55 - 46 - 61 - 162
3 - Japan - 30 - 53 - 63 - 146
4 - Iran - 10 - 8 - 14 - 32
5 - Hong Kong - 7 - 13 - 9 - 29
6 - Thailand - 7 - 7 - 22 - 36
7 - Chinese Taipei - 6 - 8 - 29 - 43
8 - India - 5 - 11 - 17 - 33
9 - North Korea - 5 - 8 - 12 - 25
10 - Malaysia - 5 - 8 - 7 - 20