Joyous scenes at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday marked the return of the Indian contingent from Guangzhou where it aggregated 64 medals, including 14 gold, for a sixth-place finish in the overall tally in the Asian Games.
Drum beats and garlands heralded the contingent which arrived in batches. Among those who returned were athletics, kabaddi, volleyball and basketball teams. India won the kabaddi gold in men and women and the reception for them stood out.
Joseph Abraham, winner of the 400m hurdles, was delighted. “I am very happy to have won a track gold for India after the 1982 Asian Games.”
He said the real impact of the victory would be known when he reaches Kerala.
About Tintu Luka's performance in 800 metres, her coach P.T. Usha said that her right hamstring which developed at the home bend had prevented her from a sprint finish. The injury looked more serious than what was originally thought and Usha said that Tintu had some problem in walking. “All this talk of pain and poor finish would not have been there had the problem not cropped up.”
About A.C. Ashwini's gold medal in the 400m hurdles, chief coach Bahadur Singh said even six months ago the foreign coach was sure of her victory and was expecting a time below 56 seconds.
Sprinter Mandeep Kaur, part of the team that won the 4x400 women's relay, said, “We did well to skip the felicitation functions (after the Commonwealth Games gold) and concentrated on training. Our preparation was good and that was the reason why we did well in the Asian Games.”
Chef-de-Mission Abhay Singh Chautala was all praise for the performance of the Indians at the Asiad but struck a note of caution. “When we celebrate our 14 medals we should also look at China's performance (199 gold medals). We have to look at a future and I would welcome a policy where one corporate group supports one sport. Only then we can think of matching the rising standards of the other countries.”
The Kabaddi Federation President J. S. Gehlot said that the Olympic Council of Asia had decided to retain kabaddi in the sports programme for the 2014 Games in Incheon.
