India have sent their largest ever contingent to the Hangzhou Asian Games, but who of them are the nation's best gold medal contenders? ESPN India attempts to pick out the top 10 possibilities:
Neeraj Chopra - Javelin throw
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Arguably one of India's greatest ever athletes already. The 25-year-old has already won Olympic, Asian Games and World Championships gold medals. This season has already seen Neeraj at his best when he won the Worlds gold in Budapest just last month. He also emerged on top at the Doha and Lausanne Diamond League events before finishing second at the Zurich Diamond League and the Diamond League final.
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Neeraj's biggest opponent for the gold comes from Pakistan. Arshad Nadeem won the silver at the Worlds this year and his personal best is better than Neeraj's, a throw above 90m which helped him win the gold at the Commonwealth Games. This Neeraj vs. Nadeem tussle is one to watch out for.
Nikhat Zareen - Boxing
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Nikhat has been on a golden run since last year when she won the 50kg events at both World Championships and Commonwealth Games. This year she has already added another World Championships gold at New Delhi with dominant performances in all of her bouts. At the Asian Games, qualifications for the semis will guarantee a spot for India at the Paris Olympics 2024m but Nikhat will want to go a step further and clinch the first Asian Games gold medal of her career.
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Nikhat is a strong favourite, but she will face competitions from the Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese boxers. At the 2023 World Championships, Nikhat defeated Vietnam's Nguyen Thị Tam to win the gold medal while in the previous edition, she won the gold after beating Thailand's Jutamas Jitpong.
Men's hockey team
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The Indian men's hockey team is ranked third in the world and the next best in Asia is Malaysia who are ranked 10th. While the team failed to live up to the expectations at the home World Cup early this year, finishing ninth, India are still big favourites for the gold. They won the recent Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai in August, which involved all the top teams from the continent.
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As they found out in the last Asian Games, where they finished third, India cannot afford to take the competition from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and Pakistan lightly. India defeated Malaysia in the final of the Asian Champions Trophy but not before they gave them a scare when they went 1-3 down. Till Harmanpreet Singh and Co. turned the match around to win 4-3 that is. The Asian Games is also a qualifier for the Paris Olympics so India will hope to achieve the objective in Hangzhou by winning gold.
Indian chess team
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There are some promising names in India's chess squad for the Hangzhou Games, where the sport is making a comeback after a span of 13 years. D Gukesh, only 17, is the top ranked Indian (and only top-ten-in-the-world player) and he played a big part in the men's team winning the bronze at the Chess Olympiad in Chennai last year. Recently, R Praggnanandhaa qualified for the Candidates tournament after finished second at the Chess World Cup. Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi and Pentala Harikrishna make up a strong men's team while previous Asian Games medallists Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli -- both among the best women's players in the world -- lead the women's team.
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The Chinese squad, which comprises of men's world champion Ding Liren and multiple women's world champion and world no. 1 Hou Yifan, are also strong favourites for the gold medal in four chess events at the Asian Games - men's and women's individual and team tournaments. Chess might see a straight battle between India and China for the gold in Hangzhou.
Kabaddi men's team
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The Indian men's kabaddi team has won every Asian Games gold medals since 1990 except for the 2018 edition where they were beaten by Iran in the semifinals. Thanks to the Pro Kabaddi league, India have developed a solid group of talent and depth over the years. In the recent Asian Kabaddi Championships, India remained unbeaten in the tournament and emerged champions for the eighth time.
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Going by the players, form, experience and history, the fight for the gold is more or less between India and Iran. Iran, the defending champions, did not play with their A team at the Asian Championships but still managed to make it to the final and pushed India all the way till the final whistle.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty - Badminton
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It's odd to write about India's gold medal contenders in badminton without mentioning PV Sindhu in the list but such has been the form of Satwik and Chirag (and Sindhu's in reverse) this season. The world no. 3 pair have four titles to their names already this year, having won the Swiss Open, Indonesia Open, Korea Open and the Badminton Asia Championships. After winning their first CWG gold medal at Birmingham last year, Satwik and Chirag will hope for similar achievement in Hangzhou.
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At the Asian level, badminton is highly competitive and involves the world's best players. Satwik and Chirag will have to face China's Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, who have won three BWF Tour titles this year and also world no. 1 Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
Murali Sreeshankar - long jump
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Another big favourite from India, Sreeshankar will aim to beat his compatriot Jeswin Aldrin amongst others for his first Asian Games medal. He has six top three finishes in 2023, including a silver medal at the Asian Athletics Championships and a third place at the Paris Diamond League.
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China's Wang Jianan is a strong contender for the gold medal, having finished on top at the 2018 Asian Games and 2022 World Championships. He will look to give his best in front of his home crowd, and he'll also know the conditions better than others. However, Sreeshankar's season best jump of 8.41m is better than Jianan's 8.34m.
India's 4x400m relay team
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The quartet of Muhammed Anas, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh broke the Asian record at the recent World Championships with a 2:59.05 run to finish second behind USA in the heats and made it to the finals. They eventually finished fifth but once again ran a sub three-minute race in the final. Safe to say, the Indian runners have hit peak form going into the Asian Games.
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The quartet will face competition from the Sri Lankan relay team, who finished a place above them in this year's Asian Athletics Championships to clinch the gold medal.
India's compound archery team
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In a superb display at the World Championships, Indian compound archers won three gold medals in Berlin, their best ever performance. Aditi Swami, only 17, became India's first senior world champion with her gold in the women's event while Jyothi Surekha Vennam won her second Worlds medal after coming third in the event. Aditi, Jyothi and Parneet Kaur combined to win the gold in women's team event while Ojas Pravin Deotale earned the gold in the men's individual event. Jyothi also enjoyed a brilliant season, winning multiple medals at the Archery World Cups this year.
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When it comes to archery, South Korea are dominant: be it Asian Games or Olympics. India's compound archers are in great form, but they need to get past the best the South Koreans have to offer.
Rudrankksh Patil- Shooting
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Unlike other sports, India's shooting squad doesn't have a clear-cut favourite. But one dependable name is Rudrankksh. He secured a Paris 2024 Olympic quota for India after winning the gold medal in the 10m air rifle event at the 2022 World Championships.
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The host nation China have an excellent record at the Asian Games. They are putting out a strong squad with multiple Olympic and Worlds medallist Yang Haoran being the big favourite for the gold.