Cliched as it may sound, India did save their best for the last. Led by a historic gold medal from the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on their last competition day at the 19th Asian Games, India ended their most successful campaign with 107 medals (28 gold, 38 silver, 41 bronze), bettering their previous best haul at the 2018 Jakarta Games by a whopping 37 medals.

It was also the best competition day for India in terms of gold medals won though October 1 saw India win 15 medals, three more than they won on October 4 and October 7 (12 medals each). On Saturday, India’s compound archers, kabaddi teams, men’s cricket team and the badminton doubles pair combined for six gold medals that enabled India to wrap up a memorable Games with the most “successful” single-day haul.

In some ways, it was fitting that India’s 100th medal came on the kabaddi mat from its women, a sport that the country can lay claim of being its own. With barely 24 hours left for the curtains to come down at Hangzhou, Indian athletes signed off, having raised the bar, and expectations, for next year’s Paris Olympics.

India secured a fourth-place finish at the Games, their best since the 1962 Jakarta Asiad where they had finished third. The top three in Hangzhou were the same from the last Games with China, Japan and South Korea all three improving their medal count from 2018 Jakarta.

Keeping with the trend through the fortnight, India’s success came from different quarters, from kabaddi to badminton to wrestling. The four medals in compound archery set the pace. Jyothi Surekha and Ojas Deotale won individual gold while Abhishek Verma, lost to his teammate in the final, signed off with silver. Aditi Swami, the 17-year-old world champion, won the women’s individual bronze.

Ojas and Aditi, both based in Maharashtra’s Satara, are coached by Pravin Sawant, a ward-boy-turned-police constable, who has built a basic residential archery academy there.

Surekha – it was her third Asian Games – and debutant Deotale ended with three gold medals each, making them the most successful Indian athletes among their record 655-strong contingent. Pistol shooter Esha Singh and rifle marksman Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar won four medals each, but had one and two gold medals apiece. India had 34 multiple medallists with archers, athletes and shooters climbing the podium more than once.

The most anticipated medal on Saturday was the women’s kabaddi gold after a 26-25 final win over Chinese Taipei. It helped India reach the three-figure medal mark for the first time. The 107 medals are the most India have won at a global multi-disciplinary event, bettering the 101 medals won at the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games.

“In a way, the Delhi CWG marked the first step. Since then, Indian sport has grown at a rapid pace. I am proud that our boys (Satwik and Chirag) brought us the 101st medal, that too a gold. We must now turn our focus to the Paris Olympics,” national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand said after the men’s doubles triumph.

The pair, by beating South Korea’s Choi Solgyu and Kim Wonho, became India’s first Asian Games badminton champions. The only men’s doubles medal before Sunday had come in 1982 when Leroy D’Sa and Pradeep Gandhe took bronze.

The Satwik-Chirag gold medal was a result of some serious power play, the pair that will become world No.1 next week wrapping up the match 21-18, 21-16 in under an hour. The two regaled the crowd first with relentless smashes and then with cool dance moves before sending their racquets into the stands.

The day’s last medal came from freestyle wrestler Deepak Punia who won the 86kg silver. His brilliant run raised gold medal hopes but he ran into Iranian great Hassan Yazdanicharati, losing 0-10.

While India can celebrate their success from this Asian Games, they will also have to raise the level across quite a few events as they reset and prepare for Paris. India won seven medals at the Tokyo Games, but hitting double figures will be the minimum expectation for the country’s rejuvenated sporting force.