Asian Games: How Kishore Jena made Neeraj Chopra fight for gold

It’s turning out to be a dream ‘Mission Hangzhou’ for the Indian track and field contingent at the 2023 Asian Games. The 68-member athletics squad have accounted for more than one-third of the country's medal haul as they have already surpassed their best-ever medal haul on the 11th day of the competition on Wednesday 4 October. 

India is now fourth in the medals tally with a total of 81 medals, bettering the 70-medals mark in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. The bulk of the medals have come from athletics and shooting, with 17 gold (one better than Jakarta), 31 silver and 32 bronze. 

On Wednesday, all eyes were on the men’s javelin final, where Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra kept his tryst with gold with a heave of 88.88 m in his fourth attempt, but that was not quite the whole story. Compatriot Kishore Jena, who finished fifth in the World Championships in Budapest in August, ensured it was a 1-2 for India with a throw of 87.54 m after leading the table for a brief while. 

A fascinating sight on the sidelines of the competition occurred when Chopra and Jena posed with the men’s quartet of Amol Jacob, Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Rajesh Ramesh and Muhammad Ajmal Variyathodi, who won the 4 x 400 m relay gold, the two top finishes coming within 30 minutes of each other. The relay squad clocked 3:01.58 sec, lowering their fastest time of 3:03.81 ahead of Qatar, Japan and Iraq. 

Earlier in the evening, the women’s 4x400 m relay team of Vithya, Aishwarya, Prachi and Subha bagged silver. Avinash Sable, who ushered in India’s athletics medal rush a few days ago with the country's first-ever gold in men’s 3,000 m steeplechase, continued his top form with a silver in the men’s 5,000 m final.  

During an interview with National Herald after the Worlds, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adille Sumariwala, a former national champion sprinter himself, said he expected the Indian contingent to overhaul the 20-gold medals mark of 2018. Not only has it done so in style, but has bagged medals in unexpected events. 

Truly fascinating was the manner in which Odisha lad Jena, a product of the Reliance Athletics High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar, fought Chopra inch by inch before settling for silver.  

When Chopra retained his crown won five years back, it was India’s 17th gold, having surpassed their previous best of Jakarta. The tally is expected to swell further with the Indian men’s hockey team in the final, the men’s cricket team in the semi-finals and a number of strong medal prospects in wrestling and boxing.