Aichi-Nagoya, Oct 3 (IANS) With double gold medals in cricket and hockey, and dominant performances in archery, boxing and athletics, India concluded a successful Asian Games 2026 campaign in fourth place on the medals table with 85 medals, falling short of the country’s record haul from Hangzhou three years ago.
About 500 Indian athletes took part in the 20th edition of the Continental multisport event in Aichi-Nagoya, and India ended up with 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze medals.
India’s total was the second-highest ever at the Asian Games, the record being 106 medals earned by a team of 650 athletes at Hangzhou 2023. In Hangzhou, the country had secured 28 gold, 38 silver and 40 bronze medals.
In Aichi-Nagoya, athletics was India’s leading source of medals, bringing in 24, while shooting, on the other hand, secured 15, three of which were gold medals. In terms of gold medals, archery was ahead of the others with five instances of finishing in the top three, and boxing also won three golds.
Lovlina Borgohain was one of India’s boxers to win a gold medal, being the second Indian woman to achieve this after Mary Kom at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. Aman Sehrawat and Sujeet Kalkal were declared champions in wrestling.
India had a successful campaign in team sports as well. The women’s and men’s cricket teams defended their titles at the Asian Games, winning by beating Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the final matches, respectively. Both the men’s and women’s kabaddi teams won gold medals, and India’s women’s hockey team finally ended its 44-year wait for an Asian Games title.
History was also made by several athletes in Japan.
Pranavi Urs won the first gold medal for an Indian woman at the Asian Games in golf, and 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod became the first Indian woman to win individual recurve gold at the continental championships.
Mohod was part of the Indian women’s recurve team that won the gold medal, together with Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma, who were the first Indian women to claim the team recurve title at the Games.
Neeru Dhanda of India won the first individual gold medal of the event in the women’s trap competition, and Kumkum and Suruchi Singh matched Asian records as they secured gold in the mixed team 10m air pistol event.
Vithya Ramraj won a bronze medal by breaking a national record in the women’s 400 metres hurdles that had stood for 42 years, while Yash Vir Singh and Rohit Yadav each secured a position on the podium in the men’s javelin, with Singh taking silver and Yadav bronze, even though Neeraj Chopra was unable to take part in the Games due to injury.
Sawan Barwal secured India’s first marathon medal since 1982 and at the same time set a national record, while Sarvesh Kushare finally ended India’s 56-year wait for a men’s high jump medal. Baranica Elangovan also broke new ground by becoming the first Indian pole vaulter to win a medal at the Asian Games.
The country’s campaign also included a number of firsts in various sports, such as Suchika Tariyal securing the nation’s first medal in the Asian Games in mixed martial arts, and Jay Meena achieving the same feat in soft tennis by getting to the semifinals.
Mirabai Chanu secured a silver medal in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event — her first at the continental event and thus made it India’s first Asian Games medal in the sport since 1998 in Bangkok. Roshibina Devi won her third consecutive continental medal in wushu, and Seema Kumari finally ended India’s 16-year drought over a women’s 10,000m medal.
Anahat Singh achieved the distinction of becoming the first Indian woman to win a silver medal in the singles event at the Asian Games, and both Anahat and Abhay Singh came very close to winning the gold medal since they lost in the finals of their respective singles events.
India has also obtained the quotas for the LA 2028 Olympics in archery and hockey. The seven sports that were granting Olympic quotas at Aichi-Nagoya were archery, hockey, sailing, squash, surfing, tennis and triathlon.
By winning their places in both the men’s and women’s hockey events as well as in the compound mixed team and women’s individual recurve events in archery, India has given its already historic Asian Games campaign an Olympic dimension.
India ended up coming behind its record-breaking showing at Hangzhou, having won 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze medals, but its campaign included several historic firsts, record-breaking performances and successful defences of titles.
Their best haul came on Friday, claiming 12 medals including six gold medals — three of them in boxing. On Saturday, the 17th and penultimate day, India bagged nine medals, winning gold medals in cricket and hockey, adding to those won by their women’s teams, while Aman Sehrawat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and golfer Pranavi Urs claimed gold medals in individual events.
The Men’s Cricket Team held its nerve to beat Pakistan by 19 runs in the final and retained the gold medal; Kumkum Anil Mohod scripted history with India’s first-ever women’s recurve individual gold while Aman Sehrawat powered his way to Wrestling gold, Antim Panghal secured silver, and Deepak Punia added bronze.
Pranavi Sharath Ursmade history by winning the first gold by an Indian female golfer in Women’s Individual Golf, with India’s Women’s Team adding a historic silver. Neeraj Chauhan completed an all-Indian podium moment with a bronze medal.
–IANS
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