Asian Games 2018: 5 Indian athletes primed for golden glory at the continental event

The biggest continental sporting action — Asian Games 2018 — is all set to kickstart in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18.

A record number — more than 10,000 participants— are expected to take part in the 16-day sporting spectacle. India, who have been one of the major forces at the continental level over the years, have sent a 572-athlete contingent to the Games.

The expectations from the Indian unit is more than ever, given their impressive performances at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year.

India have clinched more than 50 medals in the last three editions and the tally is expected to only go up this year.

As usual, wrestlers and shooters are expected to dominate the medal tally. Team events, especially hockey, tennis, and badminton, may also see positive results.

IBTimes, India has compiled a list of five athletes who are likely to return home from Asian Games with gold medals. Check them out below. (In this list, only individual events have been considered).

Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra is one of the best bets in a track and field event for India at the upcoming games. The 20-year-old, a junior world record holder, has been in fine form in the ongoing season.

The youngster is heading into the Games on the back of a gold medal-winning performance at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year. Chopra's throw of 86.47m won him the yellow metal at the multi-sport event in Gold Coast.

Chopra's best throw this season came at the Diamond League meet in Doha where he set a new national record of 87.3m in May.

The Indian athlete is expected to face a stiff competition from Chinese Taipei's Cheng Chao-Tsuin, who has a personal best of 91.36m. However, the 25-year-old has not managed to cross 84.60m this season.

Manu Bhaker

Shooters from the country are expected to reign supreme at the Asian Games and Manu Bhaker is a strong contender for a gold medal.

The 16-year-old school-going shooter outclassed senior compatriot Heena Sidhu in the 10m air pistol event at the Commonwealth Games with a meet record.

Earlier this year, Bhaker had won the ISSF World Cup in Mexico, making heads turn with a composed performance at the highest level.

Bhaker has even been selected for the 10m air pistol mixed event and 25m pistol events ahead of Sidhu. The young shooter will thus be contesting in three events at the upcoming meet.

PV Sindhu

A gold medal has been eluding her, but Sindhu has a good chance to buck the trend in Jakarta. The 23-year-old is heading into the tournament on the back of a silver-medal winning run at the BWF World Championships.

However, Sindhu faces a stiff challenge as nine of the top 10 shuttlers, barring Marin, are part of the women's singles field at the Games.

There is nothing much to separate the top 10 women's singles shuttlers, who have been providing some high-quality entertainment to badminton fans over the last few seasons.

World number one Tai Tzu Ying will be keen on putting behind her world championships disappointment and claim the gold at the Games.

Sindhu's big-match experience will come into play and the young Indian shuttler certainly starts as one of the favourites to finish on the podium.

Vinesh Phogat

Vinesh Phogat was the only Indian woman wrestler to have a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

The 23-year-old, who won a bronze medal at the Incheon Games, will be hoping to change the colour of her medal at the upcoming meet (50 kg category).

After suffering a major injury that ended her medal hopes at the Olympic Games in 2016, the young wrestler needed a year's time to recover.

A poor performance at 2017 World Wrestling Championships on return from injury did not deflate her confidence as she went on to win Asian Wrestling Championship earlier this year.

Gold medal at the Gold Coast Games followed and she clinched a confidence-boosting gold medal at Grand Prix of Spain in July.

The youngster from Haryana had thrashed Canada's Natasha Fox 10-0 in the final.

Vinesh though is expected to face tough competition in Jakarta as she will be up against the likes of Japan's Yuki Irea and China's Sun Yanan.

Notably, Vinesh suffered the horrific injury at the Olympics against Sun, who went on to win a bronze.

Hima Das

Hima Das is one of the brightest medal contenders for India in the track event at Asian Games.

The 18-year-old became the first Indian to win a track gold at an IAAF event at the World U-20 Athletics Championships in Finland last month. Das' late burst in the women's 400m event had left the world awestruck.

Das had finished the race in Finland with a timing of 51.46s but her season best is 51.13s, which is well below the Asian Games 2014 gold medal-winning time of 51.59s.

Das, who had also finished an impressive sixth at the Commonwealth Games, is second on the list of Asians, considering the season-best timings in the 400m event. Bahrain's 20-year-old Salwa Eid Naser tops the list with season-best timing of 49.08s.