By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet’s gold in the 10m mixed air pistol team event gave India a much-needed lift at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Friday. But India’s second gold of the Games also brought into sharper focus the very different trajectories of three major Asian sporting nations — China’s overwhelming dominance, Iran’s remarkable performance amid war and India’s struggle to convert a growing medal haul into gold.
Suruchi and Kamaljeet dominated the final, producing an Asian Games record score of 484.6 to beat South Korea by 6.6 points. Their victory was particularly striking because both had endured disappointing individual campaigns. Kamaljeet had missed the men’s individual final by one point, while Suruchi finished 26th in women’s qualification. The mixed-team pairing, changed at the last moment, produced India’s first shooting gold of these Games.
India’s tally now stands at 2 gold, 8 silver and 9 bronze, or 19 medals in all. Yet the country remained well down the medal table, with the gold count explaining the disparity between its overall medal haul and its ranking. India entered the Games after a record 107-medal performance, including 28 golds, at Hangzhou in 2023.
The comparison with China is stark. China has once again turned the Asian Games into a demonstration of the depth of its sporting system. It was sitting comfortably at the top of the table with 86 gold medals, 31 silver and 20 bronze for 137 medals overall as of September 24, with host Japan a distant second on 22 golds.
The sheer scale of China’s lead is more revealing than its position alone. Its athletes have been collecting gold across swimming, shooting and a wide range of other disciplines, underlining the country’s ability to sustain medal-winning programmes across multiple sports rather than depend on a handful of stars. The early Aichi-Nagoya results therefore offer another illustration of China’s status as a dominant force in the world.
Iran presents a very different picture. Despite the war that has disrupted life at home, Iran was sitting sixth with six gold, 10 silver and six bronze medals. Its performance has carried an added human dimension for athletes competing while their families remain affected by the conflict.
Iranian basketball players, for instance, spoke openly about the pressures they had faced after winning bronze earlier in the Games. Their comments reflected the difficulties of preparing and competing amid months of conflict. Yet the Iranian contingent has continued to produce medals, placing the country ahead of several established Asian sporting powers in the early standings.
India’s story lies somewhere between these contrasting examples. It has depth enough to produce medals in shooting, combat sports, rowing and other disciplines, but the early tally shows a familiar problem — podium finishes have not yet translated into enough gold medals.
That makes Friday’s shooting triumph more than just another medal. It is evidence that India’s athletes can produce dominant performances, but also a reminder of how fine the margins are at this level. The men’s 50m rifle 3-position team, for instance, had to settle for silver behind China after leading for much of the contest.
The wider Asian Games picture is therefore already taking shape. China is converting its enormous sporting depth into an extraordinary gold-medal haul; Iran is producing results despite an exceptionally difficult backdrop; and India, despite accumulating medals, is still searching for the consistency needed to turn silver and bronze into gold.
The Indian women’s cricket team had already broken the country’s gold-medal drought by beating Sri Lanka in the final on Tuesday. Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet have now added another gold. For India, the challenge in the days ahead will be to turn these isolated gold-medal successes into a broader surge across athletics, shooting, wrestling, boxing, hockey and other events — and close the gap between its medal tally and its position among Asia’s leading sporting nations.
See also latest medal tally