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The Commonwealth Games 2018, held at Gold Coast City, brought out the best in the girl power. For India, the women were on a roll. From holding the flag aloft, to winning the gold medal, you name it and they did it.
Interestingly, of the 26 gold medals that India won, a whopping 20 were won by Indian women alone, with Manika Batra and Saina Nehwal winning more gold medals than even Pakistan or Bangladesh as a nation could manage here.
While some performances were impressive, others were brilliant enough to acquire the status of legends, who show a lot of promise for the upcoming Jakarta Asian Games. While it was tough to compile the best, here are the 5 female Indian athletes who promise to shine at the Asian Games 2018:-
#5 Vinesh Phogat
Though she played in a group of only five wrestlers, Vinesh's wrestling skills were enough to shut the mouths of many critics up with her explosive return to the wrestling arena at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018. The girl, who receives lesser limelight than her much more famous cousins - the Phogat sisters Geeta and Babita, went a notch higher than them, successfully defending her title at the Women's 50 kg. wrestling.
Given that Sakshi Malik failed to impress the wrestling fans at this tournament, all eyes will now be resting on this Asian dark horse, who was controversially robbed off her potential Olympics gold by an injury in the quarterfinals at the hands of her Chinese opponent, Sun Yanan.
Vinesh will now aim to change the color of her bronze medal from the previous Asian Games held at Incheon in 2014, and make herself count as a potential bet for a historic wrestling gold at both the 2019 World Championships and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, something no wrestler from either the Phogat clan or the women wrestling community has dared to make an attempt at.
#4 Mary Kom
When she stood proudly on the victors podium, after pummeling Kristina O Hara of Northern Ireland to clinch her debut gold medal in the Women's Light Flyweight category at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018, former five-time world champion and London Olympics 2012 bronze medalist M C Mary Kom proved the maxim : Age is just a number.
For a mother of three children, who is also a sitting Rajya Sabha MP, making a return to the boxing ring wasn't a bed of roses. Yet, Mary Kom, who most critics had written off after her failure to make the cut for Rio Olympics, gave it back in style, by winning consecutive gold medals at the 2017 Asian Championships, the India Open Championships as well as the Gold Coast CWG 2018.
In an interview to the press, the Asian Games gold medalist has refused to call it quits, and continues to aim for an elusive Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020. Though she is yet to take her call, if she makes it to the Asiad, Mary Kom is well capable of springing up a surprise any given day, which could work wonders for her upcoming challenge at the AIBA World Women's Boxing Championships, to be held after the Asiad.
#3 Manu Bhaker
This young shooter, who already has the coveted ISSF World Cup gold medals [both in individual and mixed category] to her credit, has now created history by becoming one of the youngest Indian women to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. With a smashing Games record of 388/400 in qualifications and 240.9 points in the finals, Manu Bhaker has set a name for herself in the world of shooting.
To give you an insight of how phenomenal is Manu's debut performance, here are some stats: The competition at Commonwealth finals consisted a firing of 24 shots, while the Asian Games, as well as the Olympics, comprise only 20 shots per competitor.
Had Manu's scores been adjusted as per the standard format, her actual score would've been 201.7, which would've landed a remarkable silver at Incheon Asiad 2014, and a huge, unthinkable, as well as the historic gold medal at Rio Olympics, way ahead of the actual gold medalist Zhang Menxue of China.
This speaks volumes about the potential Manu has in store, given the fact how ultra-competitive the Asian Games are in terms of shooting. Apart from Asian Games, Manu Bhaker is also a strong contender for a gold medal at the Buenos Aires Youth Olympics, and we hope that she exceeds our expectations.
#2 Saikhom Mirabai Chanu
This small, but gritty weightlifter from Manipur, has set the bar for Indian weightlifting higher with her astounding performance at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018, where the current world champion broke every Commonwealth record with each of her six attempts, whether in snatch or clean and jerk, and is a promising candidate for a remarkable podium finish at the Tokyo Olympics.
Now her present lift of 196 kgs., which is not only her personal best, but also the current Indian national record, would've been more than enough to garner her a first, historical gold medal, had she lifted the same at Incheon Asiad 2014. The original gold medalist, Margarita Yelisseyeva of Kazakhstan, had lifted only 194 kgs. in total.
If Mirabai stays close to her record at the Commonwealth, this would put her as a potential for another gold medal at the upcoming World Championships, and if she manages to breach the historic 200 kg. mark, she could very well be a strong contender for a historic gold at Tokyo Olympics, 2020, given that very few women weightlifters have managed to ever make the cut.
#1 Saina Nehwal
The last few months haven't been nice for this once great shuttler. A bronze medalist at the previous BWF World Championships, Saina was left with very few supporters, owing to her controversial stand on her father not receiving any accreditation for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018.
However, with back to back gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, Saina has certainly shut up the haters and has proven that she is far from finished. Her next target is the Jakarta Asian Games, where she hopes to better the individual record of Syed Modi, who is the lone Indian individual to clinch an individual medal at the badminton segment of the Asian Games when he achieved the honours at 1982 Delhi Asiad.
Apart from her own teammate P V Sindhu, Saina will have to overcome the formidable shuttlers from Malaysia, China and Japan. However, given that Saina has sprung up surprises before, it wouldn't be too optimistic to say that she has a chance at the Asian Games gold, provided she continues her current form.
