Asian Games 2023: Full List of 31 IIS Athletes Competing

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Bellary, 24th September 2023: Asian Games 2023 started on Saturday (September 23) in Hangzhou, China. With a blend of youth and veteran athletes representing India at the Games, there are huge expectations of a medal rout from the strong Indian contingent of 655 members in Hangzhou among Indian sports fans.

Notably, 31 athletes in the Indian contingent are from the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS). They will be competing in sports like Athletics, Swimming, Boxing, Judo, and Wrestling in Hangzhou. Neeraj Chopra, the former Olympic and World Championships Gold medalist is also part of the IIS roster of athletes. The roster also includes the likes of swimmer Aryan Nehra, long-distance runners Avinash Sable and Parul Chaudhary, Long Jumper Jeswin Aldrin, and Triple Jumper Pravin Chithravel.

Beginning with boxing, one of the most exciting names in action from IIS at the Asian Games will be the World Championship Bronze Medallist, Nishant Dev (71 kg). While Hussamuddin had to be ruled out due to a knee injury, replacing him is the World Youth Champion - Sachin Siwach (57 kg) followed by Sanjeet (92 kg). In the women's category, it will be the breakthrough talent of the Women's World Boxing Championship in India - Preeti Sai Pawar (54 kg) who would want to continue her form in Hangzhou as well.

In Swimming, the 19-year-old Aryan Nehra, who broke four National Records at the Senior National Swimming Championships including 800m freestyle in July this year, will be aiming to end India's 9-year long wait for an Asiad medal in Swimming. India's last Asian Games medal in Swimming was back in 2014 with Sandeep Sejwal winning a Bronze in 50m breaststroke event.

Neeraj Chopra, who recently became the first-ever Indian athlete to secure a Gold medal at the World Athletics Championship in Men's Javelin Throw, is touted to be the favourite at the Asian Games. The Tokyo Olympics Gold-medallist is targeting the elusive 90m mark in Hangzhou.

Among Long Jumpers, Sreeshankar Murali, who had won a Silver medal in Men's Long Jump with a 8.37m mark in the Asian Championships in July, will be looking to repeat a similar performance. Additionally, Jeswin Aldrin, who shattered the National Record in March recording a whopping 8.42m mark, is another medal contender in the event from India. Ancy Sojan will also compete in the Women's Long Jump.

Long-distance runners Avinash Sable and Parul Chaudhary will compete in 3000m Steeplechase and 5000m events in Men's and Women's categories, respectively. Sable, who won the Silver medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 last year in Birmingham, is among the favourites to earn a podium finish in 3000m Steeplechase. Parul, who created a National Record at the Worlds, recording a time of 9 minutes 15.51 seconds in 3000m Steeplechase, is also a medal contender in the Women's 3000m steeplechase.

Meanwhile, Sandeep Kumar will compete in 20km RaceWalk and Ajay Kumar Saroj will be seen in action in the Men's 1500 metres.

Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh, were part of the India's Men's 4 X 400 Relay team that shattered the Asian Record at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in August. With a time of 2:59.05 seconds in the Semi-Finals, the trio became a part of the first Men's Relay team from India to qualify for the Finals at the World Athletics Championship. After a spectacular showing, there are high hopes from the Indian Men's Relay Team in Hangzhou.

Tejaswin Shankar, India's only representative for Decathlon at the Asian Games scored 7,648 points at the Jim Click Shootout competition in Arizona, USA, missing out on Bharatinder Singh's 2011 national record by 10 points. His consistent performances over the year in the event has made him another possible medal contender in the event.

Praveen Chithravel, who broke the National Record in May this year, is a possible medal contender in Men's Triple Jump, along with Commonwealth Games Silver Medallist Abdulla Aboobacker.

In the 400m category, Mijo Chacko Kurian will participate in the Men's 400m race, Santosh Kumar will take part in Men's 400m Hurdles and Vithya Ramraj who recent came within touching distance of 0.01s breaking the great PT Usha's long standing National Record set at the 1984 Los Angeles olympics will lead the charge in Women's 400m Hurdles. Jesse Sandesh and Rubina Yadav will compete in High Jump events across Men's and Women's categories, respectively, at the Asian Games. In Judo, Indubala Devi, the lone judoka from Manipur, won the Silver medal at the Asian Open Judo Meet in Kuwait in April this year, will compete in Women's 78kg category.

In Wrestling, Antim Panghal, who secured a World Wrestling Championships Bronze medal, confirmed a quota for the 2024 Paris Olympics, is one of the biggest medal contenders from India in the Women's 53kg category. Radhika will also be competing in the Women's 68kg category in hopes of earning a podium finish. In the Men's category Yash (74Kg) will be competing in freestyle while Gyanender (60kg), Neeraj (77kg) and Sunil Kumar (87kg) will be participating in the Greco-Roman format.

Offering his best wishes to the IIS roster, CEO Inspire Institute of Sport Rushdee Warley said, "Asian Games is one of the elite sporting events of the world and to have our athletes compete at such an event is a moment of pride for us. The opportunity to compete against the best in the continent is a good experience, helping them to learn and grow. This is a great preparation opportunity for all our athletes with Paris 2024 coming up. We look forward to our athletes performing at their very best at this competition."

IIS has been constantly working towards supporting and promoting athletes across disciplines ranging from the field of sports science to providing excellent training arrangements and financial support. Further, the institute has also proved its mettle with its excellent scouting network which has helped find many of the top medal prospects for India at the Asian Games.

Catch all the action from the Hangzhou Asian Games LIVE in India on the Sony Sports Network and Sony LIV.

About IIS:
The Inspire Institute of Sport is a cutting-edge environment founded to craft champions in India with an eye on success at the Olympic Games. Located in Vijayanagar, Karnataka, the IIS has been stitched together with state-of-the-art facilities and sports science and has some of the finest coaching minds from across the world to guide our athletes towards the Indian Olympic dream

(Press release)