Pune's Army Sports Institute athletes win 12 of Army's 20 medals at Asian Games

Indian Army sportspersons dominated at the Asian Games. Twenty-five athletes from the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune were part of the Indian team and won a total of 12 medals in different sports. Army athletes won 20 medals in all, meaning 12 of them came from ASI athletes alone.

ASI athletes won medals in athletics, boxing, archery and wrestling. In athletics, Gulveer Singh won three medals. He took silver in the 1,500 metres and the 10,000 metres, and bronze in the 5,000 metres.

Sawan Barwal won silver in the marathon. India has won a medal in this event after 44 years, and Sawan brought it. He also set a national record in the same race. Sarvesh Kushare won silver in the high jump. India's team won bronze in the 4x400 metres relay, and Dharmveer was a member of that team.

In boxing, Subedar Ankush won gold. Subedar Narendra and Havildar Kapil won bronze in the same sport.

In archery, Subedar Dhiraj won silver in both the team and mixed team events. He scored 698 out of 720, which also set an Asian record. In wrestling, Subedar Deepak Punia won bronze in the 97 kg category.

Under the Army's Mission Olympics initiative, talented athletes are selected, receive guidance from experts, are trained scientifically and are given state-of-the-art facilities. The success shows that this is why ASI athletes are able to perform consistently well at the international level.

Athletes from Satara district also achieved big success at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan. Sahil Jadhav won two gold medals in the compound archery events. Rutuja Pisal won gold in hockey. Sudeshna Shivankar performed well in the 4x100 metres relay and finished fourth. A grand felicitation rally and ceremony was organised by the District Sports Council and the District Sports Officer's office, Satara, to honour these athletes, their coaches and their parents.