PM Modi lauds ‘momentous achievement’ as India wins 'historic' 100 Asian Games medals

With the Indian women's kabaddi team winning a gold medal after beating Chinese Taipei at the 19th Asian Games 2023, the country's total medal tally crossed a historic milestone of the 100-medal mark on Saturday morning. Celebrating the “momentous” achievement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his thrill and congratulated the athletes.

Describing it as a “momentous achievement for India", Modi on X, formally Twitter, wrote, “The people of India are thrilled that we have reached a remarkable milestone of 100 medals.”

Congratulating the athletes, Modi said their performances made history. “I extend my heartfelt congratulations to our phenomenal athletes whose efforts have led to this historic milestone for India. Every awe-inspiring performance has made history and filled our hearts with pride.”

The Prime Minister also said he was looking forward to hosting the Asian Games contingent and interacting with the athletes. “I look forward to hosting our Asian Games contingent on the 10th and interacting with our athletes.”

India has so far won 25 gold medals, 35 silver medals and 40 bronze medals.

India won medals in wrestling, archery (recurve), hockey, sepaktakraw and bridge. Medals were also confirmed by the men's cricket and both kabaddi teams however official stamp came on Saturday.

Starting the day at 95, India got their assured five medals — four in archery and one in kabaddi — to officially reach the century. India beat their previous best of 70 medals at the last edition in Jakarta in 2018 by a huge margin.

Indian Air Force also congratulated the athletes in a post on X and said, “They did it! #AbKiBaar100Paar. The CAS Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and all #AirWarriors congratulate the Indian contingent members who have all made the #Nation proud. This unprecedented medal tally in the #AsianGames speaks a lot about our efforts and excellence in the field of sports.”

This is only the second time India has won over 100 medals in any of the three international games — The Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

India won 101 medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. The country is however set to breach that mark comfortably as three more medals are guaranteed to come as the day progresses.