Asian Games 2018: After best ever medal tally, India can dare to dream in Tokyo

As India finished with its best ever medal tally of 69 at the 2018 JakartaPalembang Asian Games yesterday mdash 15 gold 24 silver and 30 bronze mdashawards and accolades will follow suit as state governments will clamour for attention However Indiarsquos sports administrators must continue the hard work done with a view to carry on the good show at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo Here are some of the medals won at this Asian Games that will matter at Tokyo 2020BadmintonPV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal were always favourites to finish on the podium at Jakarta and they did with Sindhu winning silver and Saina bronze Kidambi Srikanth was beaten early but he too is among the diamonds that can glitter at TokyoTennisIndian tennis has seen numerous selection controversies and this Games was no different With veteran Leander Paes pulling out just before the start of the Games citing the absence of a doubles specialist to pair up with captain Zeeshan Ali was disappointed but backed his boys to succeed And senior pro Rohan Bopanna along with Divij Sharan delivered gold in the menrsquos doubles Skipper Zeeshan had told midday moments after the gold medal that this pair must be persisted with and the national selectors have done exactly that by pairing them together for Indiarsquos upcoming Davis Cup World Group away tie against Serbia September 1416WrestlingBajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogatrsquos gold medals in the menrsquos freestyle 65 kg and womenrsquos freestyle 50 kg respectively proved that there is a lot more to Indian wrestling than just double Olympic medalwinner Sushil Kumar who was beaten in the first round in Jakarta Bajrang and Vinesh oozed confidence when asked about their ultimate aim ldquoNothing less than a gold in Tokyordquo both saidNeeraj menrsquos javelin throw GoldThe IAAF U20 World Champion breached his personal best throwing his spear across 8806m to claim gold a distance that would have been good enough to win a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics With International training and exposure he will enhance his chances for a podium finish in TokyoShootingShooting has always been among Indiarsquos top performing sports at both the Asian Games as well as Olympics And while established names like Sanjeev Rajput silver in 50m Rifle 3 positions and Heena Sidhu bronze in 10m air pistol have consistently done well internationally the emergence of young blood like teenagers Saurabh Chaudhary 16 gold in 10m air pistol and Lakshay Sheoran 19 silver in menrsquos trap is a promising sign ahead of Tokyo The next crucial stop for the sharpshooters is the ISSF World Championships in Changwon Korea August 31 to September 15 where they will bid to win quota places for TokyoBoxingMenrsquos light flyweight gold medallist Amit Panghal became an instant hero when he stunned reigning Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov in the final recently Middleweight boxer Vikas Krishan Yadav was also doing brilliantly before a cut on his left eyelid forced him to pull out of his semifinal bout and settle for bronze Both Panghal and Vikas are known to be brainy which is a step up from the otherwise brawny variety that India have known to produceHima Das womenrsquos 400m SilverAnother IAAF world junior champion who did exceedingly well in Jakarta returned with three medals out of the four events she participated in silver in 400m silver in 4x400m womenrsquos relay silver in 4x400 mixed relay Das first set a new national record en route the womenrsquos 400m final 5100s and then broke it herself in the final 5079s If she can come under the 50second barrier shersquos a definite medal prospect in TokyoHockeyMenrsquos hockey was a major disappointment given they lost to Malaysia in the semis and then were not too dominant against Pakistan in the bronze medal match but the teamrsquos rise to No 5 in the world rankings speaks volumes of their consistent performance The FIH World Cup in Bhubhaneshwar later this year Nov 28 to Dec 16 is their next big test Meanwhile the womenrsquos team will be on a monthlong break after a super silver show in JakartaCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates