'Setting new benchmarks of excellence': President Murmu hails athletes for record medal tally at Asian Games
Oct 07, 2023
New Delhi [India], October 7 : President Draupadi Murmu expressed her happiness after the Indian athletes brought 107 medals home in the 19th Asian Games setting a new benchmark for medal tally.
Over the last 20 days, Indian athletes fought hard, broke several records and finished with a medal tally in three digits for the first time since the inception of the Asian Games.
"India's contingent signs off Asian Games with an impressive show of skill and grit! Congratulations to the Indian women and men kabaddi teams for their gold medals! Indian men's cricket team also wins gold while men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty win India's first-ever badminton gold medal. The nation is proud of the players who bring home 107 medals, setting new benchmarks of excellence," The President wrote on X.
https://x.com/rashtrapatibhvn/status/1710667482527072541?s=20
On Saturday, India continued their dominance in kabaddi in the Asian Games by winning gold in the final in a hard-fought match against Iran. Both teams played an intense game and both teams were almost head-to-head till the end.
While in wrestling, Indian grappler Deepak Punia settled for a silver medal in the Men's Freestyle 86Kg final after going down against Iran's Hassan Yazdanicharati.
The women's hockey team also added to India's medal tally of 107 by claiming a bronze on Saturday against Japan by 2-1.
Finally, the Indian men's cricket team won gold in their first Asian Games campaign after the final was called off due to persistent rain with Afghanistan having batted for 18.2 overs. The 'Men in Blue' secured gold considering their higher ranking, leaving Afghanistan to settle for the silver.
