As the Asian Games comes to an end after 14 days of medals, record-breaking numbers, and historic firsts for Indian sport, it's time to look in the rearview mirror.
Some athletes exceeded expectations, some won expected golds and some other took home stunning bronze that shine just as bright while a few even punched above their weight.
When watching 14 days of non-stop, multi-sport action, it's easy to forget some of the most standout moments that may or may not have been medals. So, here's our attempt to recap the Asiad via moments we simply didn't expect to happen. The good, the great, the brilliant and even some bizarre moments for Indian sport.
Here are the Indian moments at Asian Games we did not see coming:
Iss baar sau paar - This time more than 100
A confession right at the onset - the target of 100 medals seemed a little audacious when this ad slogan was released by the broadcasters. Only three other countries had won 100 medals or more in a single edition of the Asian Games before this - China, Japan, and South Korea. India certainly had the ability, but a lot of moving parts had to fall in place for this.
107: Beyond the record stat, a collection of inspiring stories
India's athletes stepped up and how, confirming 100 medals even before the final day's play and finished with an unprecedented 107 medals in Hangzhou. This was more than a 50% increase from the 2018 edition.
P.S. There were questions over team medals in shooting being (based on cumulative qualification score, not there last time) but those were about 10-odd. This haul should be completely attributed to the athletes and their effort, the technicalities take nothing away from the feat.
Mukherjee magic
To beat China in China in a sport dominated by China, there are few adjectives that can accurately capture what a mind-blowing result that was; and that's what Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee did. They pulled off one of the great wins in Indian sporting history beating China's world no. 2 Chen Meng and world no. 4 Wang Yidi in a sensational quarterfinal.
This is so good to see ❤️
(via revolve_around_sun/IG) pic.twitter.com/8CSxPT4xFY
- ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) October 7, 2023
It was India's only third Asian Games medal in the sport, and first in women's doubles.
An Indian going beyond Neeraj?
Neeraj Chopra is the reigning Olympic and World champion - not something Indian fans get to say often. So, for someone to have him topped him early in a major final, and for that to be a fellow Indian who was throwing his personal best was surreal and special.
Neeraj wins gold, Kishore silver; their 'battle' wins hearts and minds
That's exactly what Kishore Kumar Jena did, topping Neeraj on the charts briefly. Of course, Neeraj bounced back with an 88.88 and defended his gold. As Jena said afterward, "Pata tha bhaisaab kar lenge'.
P.S. Neeraj's first throw may have been much bigger, but it was not counted because of some unexplained official error. The sorry level of officiating in athletics was another thing we didn't expect to see at this level. Jyothi Yarraji was wrongly disqualified for a false start and Jena's throw was wrongly called foul too.
Jyothi Yarraji wins silver in 100m hurdles after dramatic 'disqualification'
Parul Choudhary's final burst
On Monday, Parul won a steeplechase silver, behind only the world champion. About 24 hours later, she was back on the track running the women's 5000m. A gruelling schedule. No athlete had medalled in both these events together before at the Asian Games. But Parul went ahead and did it.
With stunning last-gasp win, double medallist Parul Chaudhary creates Asian Games history
And it's the manner in which she did it... The sight of her overtaking Ririka Hironaka, who was checking for competition on the right, unseen from the left was the stuff movie climax sequences are made of.
Indian volleyball team balling
Even before the Asian Games officially began, one Indian team was quietly flipping the script in Hangzhou.
The Indian men's volleyball team went there with little to no expectation, what hope could a team forced to fund their travel while pawning their family jewellery a few years back could have?
India's volleyball team beat silver and bronze holders in unlikely winning run
Yet they pulled off an unlikely run defeating two higher ranked sides, teams who had won silver and bronze the last time, to show what they were capable of. They finished sixth overall but gave a very good account of themselves.
India medalling in every athletics event one evening
One Sunday evening, if you opened the schedule and results tab on the official website, you'd see the Indian flag next to every medal event in the evening session.
Tajinderpal Singh Toor - defends gold in shot put
Avinash Sable - dominated steeplechase with a Bolt-like lookback moment
Jyothi Yarraji - overcomes bad officiating to win a hurdles silver
Seema Punia - wins her third discus medal at 40 years of age
India medal in every athletics final at the #AsianGames today �� ���� pic.twitter.com/1iCZmKhkSp
- ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) October 1, 2023
India has usually done well in athletics at the Asian Games, but this kind of churn in one session was amazing.
Anant Jeet Singh Naruka's incredible skeet final
Imagine a 25-year-old old shooter in his first Asian Games facing off against a 60-year-old veteran of the sport who was winning World Championships the year you were born? And then imagine keeping pace with this legend for 80% of the final.
The Indian finished with a silver in the end as the Kuwait won gold with a perfect 60/60. It was an incredible final on a day India had medalled in two other shooting finals, which perhaps pushed Naruka a bit under the radar. But it was an extraordinary effort from the youngster.
Compound domination
When was the last time India dominated an event so thoroughly at the Asian Games that they won every single gold on offer? Compound archery was that rare clean sweep for India in Hangzhou, winning five out of the five gold medals in offer, plus one silver and a bronze.
5/5: Compound archers pull off gold medal sweep, now over to the system to back them
India has four reigning world champions in compound but not many have heard of them or support them because it's not an Olympic discipline. But those constant perfect bullseyes from three-gold winners Ojas Deotale and Jyothi Surekha Vennam should help bring in the spotlight now.
The Kabaddi Kerfuffle
A game review that takes longer than the actual match. A sit-down protest in the middle of a major final with players refusing to follow the referee's decision. Officials who are unsure what the actual rules are, changing their calls and deciding whether to follow the international code or that of the Indian league.
India win men's kabaddi gold after controversial final against Iran involving one hour stoppage
The kerfuffle in the men's kabaddi final between India and Iran is not something seen at major competitions, and hopefully something we don't see ever again. This was an overall mess and takes away the shine from India reclaiming the gold they had lost the last time around.
Sift, Palak dominating finals
That Indian shooting would do well at the Asian Games was expected. That they would win team medals which show the depth and consistency, was also known. What still came as a surprise though was how dominant some of these gold medals were.
Sift Kaur Samra, 22, became India's first individual gold medallist in Hangzhou with one of the most commanding performances seen in a 50m rifle 3 positions final; finishing a whopping 7.3 points ahead of the silver medallist, just the reigning world champion, Zhang Qiongyue of China.
Sift Kaur Samra: Once med student, now world-record gold medallist at Asian Games
Palak Gulia, all of 17, shot an Asian Games record score of 242.1 in women's 10m air pistol, ahead of 18-year-old compatriot Esha Singh to ensure a double-podium for India.
'She has a great stability of mind' - how teenager Esha Singh thrived under chaos to clinch silver
Medals in wushu, roller-skating, sepaktakraw, bridge
These sports fly under the radar because of how rarely we see them and partly because they are not exactly Indian strongholds. But these sports played a major role in the 100-medal mark.
Special shout out to Roshibina Devi Naorem, who won a silver despite personal setbacks such as the unrest back home in Manipur and the absence of her colleagues because China does not issue a standard visa to Arunachal Pradesh citizens.
After personal setbacks, Manipuri wushu medallist Roshibina's cloud finally has a silver lining
Honourable mentions
Abhay Singh (25) making multiple comebacks to beat heavyweights Pakistan in the squash men's team final - a match worthy of being a sports drama.
India coming very, very close to beating China in men's team badminton final - this was India's first ever final against a traditional powerhouse of the sport and it could well have been a gold if not for an injury to No 1 singles player HS Prannoy.
Etro and rider Anush Agarwalla trotting out to a medley of Bollywood music headlined by Oscar-winning Jai Ho. They were part of the Indian team that won a historic equestrian dressage team gold and this routine won him an individual bronze.
Away from the limelight, Vithya Ramraj equalled one of Indian athletics' longest standing record - PT Usha's mark in 400m hurdles set in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics - with a time of 55.42 seconds in the heats. She ran just short of that mark (55.68 seconds) in the final to claim bronze.