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With a very strong contingent of 572 athletes, India is expected to put up one of their best performances in the upcoming 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. With excellent squads in team sports like Hockey, Kabaddi, Men's and Women's 4x400 m Relay, India are expected to do well and bring home quite a few gold medals.
There are also some champion athletes in our contingent, who are expected to win gold medals, in their respective individual events.
In this article, we look at the top 5 Indian stars who can bring glory to the country, in the 2018 Asian Games.
#5 Deepika Kumari (Archery)
Former World number 1, Deepika Kumari (WR #7) will be leading the Indian recurve archery contingent in the 2018 Asian Games. She will be participting in both the individual as well as the team events. With multiple medals in the World Championships in her bag, she would definitely try and win her first ever Gold Medal at the Asian Games.
However with the Korean and the Chinese Taipei archers in the fray, it will not be easy for Deepika. But with her experience and talent, she would definitely be one of the favourites to win the Recurve event.
#4 Vikas Krishan (Boxing)
Vikas Krishan, one of the best ever Indian boxers, will be eyeing his 2nd gold medal in the Asian Games, when he enters the ring in Jakarta. He will be competing in the 75kg category. After his gold medal-winning effort in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Vikas will be aiming to win a gold at the Asian Games too. With his vast experience, he is surely one of the favourites to win the gold medal in the 75kg category.
#3 Manu Bhaker (Shooting)
This young shooting sensation is one of the favourites to win the Gold medal in the 10m Women's Air Pistol event.
After her superlative performance in the Commonwealth Games and her gold medal winning performance in the Shooting World Cup in Guadalajara, she has emerged as one of the top shooters in her category.
However, with top quality Chinese shooters in her category, Manu has to be at her very best, if she has to win the gold medal.
#2 P.V. Sindhu (Badminton)
PV Sindhu, the Rio Olympics silver medallist, will be India's biggest hope in badminton, in this edition of the Asian Games. She is already one of the biggest sporting icons of the country.
Because of her consistent performances in the big events, Sindhu will be one of the favourites to win the Women's Singles event in the Asian Games also.
However, the presence of other top shuttlers like Tai Tzu Ying, Nozomi Okuhara, Akane Yamaguchi, Saina Nehwal and Chen Yufei will not make Sindhu's task easy. She has to be at her best, in order to win the tournament and bring India its first ever Gold Medal in Badminton, at the Asian Games.
#1 Neeraj Chopra (Athletics)
Neeraj Chopra, the Junior World Record holder in Javelin, is already one of the greatest Indian Athletes of all time. He will be the flag bearer for India in Jakarta.
This 20-year-old, is the best Javelin thrower in Asia. After his consistent throws of over 85 metres, in the World Events, he is the favourite to win the Men's Javelin event, in the Asian Games. Only Chao-Tsung Cheng of Chinese Taipei (who has a personal best of 91.36m) can stop Neeraj from winning a gold.
He will surely be India's biggest bet in the Athletics events.
