 "Asiad 2023: Top five medal winners for India at the continental event")
It will be hard to believe but the fact is a tennis player has won more gold medals for India in the Asian Games history than an athlete or a shooter, two main medal mines for the country at Asiad. Leander Paes leads the charts when it comes to being the most successful athlete among India’s top five medal winners at the continental event.
Before the Asian Games begin on September 19 (partially as the opening ceremony is on September 23), here’s a look at India’s top five medal winners.
Check all Hangzhou Asian Games 2023 Latest news here
Check all Hangzhou Asian Games 2023 Latest news here
Leander Paes
Paes, India’s only medalist in tennis at the Olympics, made the best use of the lower standards of Tennis at the Asian Games as compared to the ATP tour. The tennis maestro won five gold medals- three in men's doubles in 1994, 2002 2006 and one in men’s team in the 1994 Asian Games. Paes’ last gold came in the mixed doubles alongside Sania Mirza in the 2006 Asian Games at Doha.
Apart from five gold medals, Paes also won three bronze medals, one in men’s singles, one in men’s team and another in mixed doubles.
PT Usha
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Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha or PT Usha as people know her, has been by far the most celebrated athlete in India as the 400-meter sprint made history by winning four gold medals in a single meet during the 1986 Seoul Asian Games.
She won the women’s 400m, women’s 400m hurdle, 4x400m women’s relay as well as the women’s 200m race. Usha was in such form that she got the silver even in the 100m which was not her forte at all.
Prior to that, she had won two silver medals in women’s 100m and 200m races at the New Delhi Asian Games in 1982 and went on to win four silver medals in the 1990 Beijing Asian Games in women’s 4x100m relay, women’s 400m, women’s 400m hurdle, women’s 4x400m relay races. The last medal for Usha came in the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games where she won a silver in the women’s 4x400m relay race. In total, Usha won four gold and seven silver medals to take her individual medal tally to 11.
India's top-five medal winners in Asian Games history
India's top-five medal winners in Asian Games history
| Rank | Athlete | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Leander Paes (Tennis) | 5 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| 2 | PT Usha (Athletics) | 4 | 7 | 0 | 11 |
| 3 | Jaspal Rana (Shooting) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 4 | Milkha Singh (Athletics) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Parduman Singh Brar (Athletics) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
Jaspal Rana
Third on the list is Insdia’s earliest shooting sensation Jaspal Rana. Currently familiar to people because of Manu Bhakre’s coaching controversy, Ran has been one of the best athletes for India in Asian Games history. The 25-meter centre fire pistol shooter won his first Asian Games gold in 1994.
However, Rana’s best-ever showing came in the Asian Games 2006 held in Doha where the Uttarakhand shooter shot his way to three gold medals in the 25-meter centre fire pistol, 25-meter standard pistol and 25-meter centre fire pistol team event. Along with four gold medals, Rana also won two silver and two bronze medals in the Asian Games as well.
Milkha Singh
The flying Sikh flew his way to four gold medals in two editions of the Asian Games in 1958 Tokyo and 1962 Jakarta. Milkha Singh won the gold medals in men’s 200m and 400m races in Tokyo and in men’s 400m and 4x400m relay races in Jakarta.
Parduman Singh Brar
Born in Bathinda, Punjab, Parduman Singh Brar is to date the only Indian to have won two gold medals in two completely different sporting disciplines at the same Asian Games event. Brar won gold in both the Shot put and the Discus throw events at the 1954 Asian Games held in Manila, Philippines. Brar, a Services man went on to win gold at the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games in Shotput. Here he won a bronze in Discus throw as well. Brar, who died a poverty-stricken man in 2007 in his native village, won his last medal- a silver in 1962 Jakarta Asian Games in 1962.