Asian Games 2026: India signs off with 85 medals after Gold rush in cricket, hockey and kabaddi
India concluded its campaign at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya with 85 medals, including 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze, finishing fourth in the overall standings after a campaign marked by...
India concluded its campaign at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya with 85 medals, including 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze, finishing fourth in the overall standings after a campaign marked by dominant performances in team sports, historic individual triumphs and several first-time podium finishes.
The 85-medal haul was below India’s record performance of 106 medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, when the country won 28 gold, 38 silver and 40 bronze medals. However, the Aichi-Nagoya campaign produced a series of landmark achievements across disciplines.
China topped the medal table with 341 medals, including 169 gold, followed by hosts Japan with 269 medals, including 83 gold. South Korea finished third with 150 medals, including 39 gold.
Around 500 Indian athletes competed at the Games, with the country’s medal tally spread across a wide range of sports.
India’s Team-Sport Gold Sweep
The defining feature of India’s campaign was its clean sweep of gold medals in men’s and women’s cricket, kabaddi and hockey.
In cricket, India retained both titles. The women’s team defeated Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final, while the men’s team overcame Pakistan by 19 runs to complete the golden double.
Kabaddi also produced a clean sweep. The women’s team defeated Iran 37-34 to successfully defend its title, while the men came from behind to beat Iran 40-34. The men’s victory was India’s ninth gold in 10 Asian Games editions since kabaddi became a men’s team sport in 1990. The only exception was the 2018 Games, when India won bronze.
Hockey completed the sweep. The Indian women ended a 44-year wait for an Asian Games medal by defeating China 1-0, with Lalremsiami scoring the decisive goal in the 10th minute. It was India’s first women’s hockey gold at the Asian Games since 1982.
The men’s team defeated Malaysia 5-1 to retain its title and claim India’s fifth men’s hockey gold, following triumphs in 1966, 1998, 2014 and 2022.
It was also the first time India’s men’s and women’s hockey teams won gold at the same Asian Games. Both teams secured qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Archery Produces Nine Medals
Archery was one of India’s most successful disciplines, producing nine medals — five gold, two silver and two bronze.
Seventeen-year-old Kumkum Mohod emerged as one of the stars of the Games, becoming the first Indian to win an individual women’s recurve gold at the Asian Games. She defeated South Korea’s Oh Yejin in a shoot-off after the final was tied 5-5. Oh scored an eight in the shoot-off before Kumkum responded with a 10 to secure gold.
Kumkum also won gold in the women’s recurve team event and silver in the mixed recurve team event alongside Dhiraj Bommadevara, ending the Games with three medals.
India also won medals in the men’s individual recurve event, with Neeraj Chauhan taking bronze.
The compound archers added three team gold medals and an individual bronze. India’s nine-medal archery haul matched its record from Hangzhou and included medals across all five recurve events.
The performances also secured LA 2028 Olympic quotas for India in archery.
Boxing Delivers Three Golds
Boxing produced India’s best Asian Games campaign in terms of gold medals, with three gold and three bronze medals.
Lovlina Borgohain won the women’s 75kg gold after defeating China’s Ziyi Bao 5-0 on her 29th birthday. The Olympic bronze medallist upgraded her Hangzhou silver and became only the second Indian woman after Mary Kom to win an Asian Games boxing gold.
Parveen Hooda defeated Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist and former world champion Chen Nien-Chin of Chinese Taipei 3-2 in the women’s 65kg final.
Ankush Panghal completed India’s boxing gold rush with a 4-0 victory over South Korea’s Kim Min-seong in the men’s 80kg final.
Kapil Pokhariya, Narender Berwal and Priya Ghanghas added three bronze medals.
Wrestling Enjoys Best Campaign in Decades
Indian wrestlers won six medals — two gold, two silver and two bronze, making it the country’s best Asian Games wrestling tally since Jakarta 1962.
Paris 2024 bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat won gold in the men’s 57kg freestyle category after defeating reigning world champion Han Chong Song of North Korea 11-7.
Sujeet Kalkal also claimed gold in the men’s 65kg freestyle category.
Antim Panghal won silver in the women’s 53kg category after losing 1-9 to Japan’s Moe Kiyooka, while Nitesh Siwach took silver in Greco-Roman 97kg. Deepak Punia and Sunil Kumar added bronze medals.
Shooting Leads India’s Medal Count in One Discipline
Shooting produced 15 medals — three gold, eight silver and four bronze, although the tally was below India’s record 22 medals from Hangzhou.
Neeru Dhanda was the standout performer, winning two golds and a silver in trap events. She became the first Indian woman to win an individual Asian Games gold in a shotgun event and later partnered Kynan Chenai to mixed team trap gold.
Neeru had earlier helped Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer secure silver in the women’s team event.
Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet won gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event after setting an Asian record in the final. Elavenil Valarivan won two silver medals, while Rudrankksh Patil collected three medals in rifle events. Esha Singh added silver in the women’s 25m pistol.
Manu Bhaker, however, returned without a medal after competing in four events.
Athletics Produces 24 Medals
Athletics was India’s biggest medal-producing discipline, with 24 medals — one gold, nine silver and 14 bronze.
The women’s 4x400m relay team of Kiran Pahal, Machettira Poovamma, Prachi Choudhary and Vithya Ramraj won India’s only athletics gold.
Vithya also won mixed 4x400m relay silver and 400m hurdles bronze, with her 54.75-second performance in the hurdles breaking P.T. Usha’s long-standing national record set in 1984.
Gulveer Singh won two silver medals in the 10,000m and 1500m and a bronze in the 5000m.
Sawan Barwal won men’s marathon silver in a national record of 2:11:37, ending India’s 44-year wait for a medal in the event.
India also won its first Asian Games silver in men’s high jump through Sarvesh Kushare, while Baranica Elangovan became the country’s first Asian Games medallist in women’s pole vault with bronze.
Pranavi Urs Creates Golf History
Golf delivered another historic moment through Pranavi Sharath Urs, who became the first Indian woman to win an individual Asian Games golf gold.
The 23-year-old from Mysuru finished at 15-under 265, one stroke ahead of China’s Yin Ruoning and Singapore’s Shannon Tan.
Pranavi also helped India win silver in the women’s team event alongside Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar. India finished with 14-under 546, behind gold medallists China.
Historic Firsts Across Other Sports
India’s medal tally also included breakthroughs in disciplines where the country has traditionally had a limited presence.
In squash, India won five medals, including singles silver for Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh. Anahat became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games singles silver.
Sailing produced three medals, including India’s first-ever Asian Games silver in the men’s skiff, won by Manu Francis and Prince Kurisinkal Noble. Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma won women’s skiff bronze, while Nethra Kumanan secured bronze in the women’s dinghy.
Mirabai Chanu won silver in the women’s 49kg weightlifting category with a total lift of 198kg, including 87kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk. It was her maiden Asian Games medal.
In wushu, Roshibina Devi won silver in women’s 60kg sanda, while Suchika Tariya secured India’s maiden Asian Games medal in mixed martial arts with bronze in the women’s traditional -60kg category.
Jay Meena won India’s first Asian Games medal in soft tennis, taking bronze in men’s singles. India also secured bronze in men’s double sculls in rowing through Satnam Singh and Salman Khan, while Pincky Balhara won bronze in women’s 78kg kurash.
India also took bronze in the men’s quadrant event in sepaktakraw.
Badminton and Table Tennis See Mixed Results
Badminton was among the relatively disappointing campaigns for India, with the country managing only one medal — bronze in the men’s team event.
The men’s team lost to China in the semifinals, while the women’s team exited in the quarterfinals against Japan. P.V. Sindhu reached the women’s singles quarterfinals before losing to Olympic champion Chen Yufei. Defending men’s doubles champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were eliminated in the opening round.
In table tennis, Manush Shah and Diya Chitale won a historic mixed doubles bronze. It was India’s fourth Asian Games table tennis medal.
A Campaign of Golds, Records and Firsts
India’s final tally of 85 medals fell short of the record 106 won at Hangzhou, but the Aichi-Nagoya Games produced a strong collection of landmark achievements.
The simultaneous gold-medal sweep in cricket, hockey and kabaddi, historic individual titles for Kumkum Mohod and Pranavi Urs, Neeru Dhanda’s shooting success, Lovlina Borgohain’s boxing gold and Aman Sehrawat and Sujeet Kalkal’s wrestling triumphs highlighted India’s campaign.
The Games also saw first-time Asian Games medals for India in areas such as mixed martial arts, soft tennis, women’s pole vault and men’s skiff sailing, while several athletes rewrote national records and secured Olympic qualification places.
With 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze medals, India finished fourth behind China, Japan and South Korea, closing the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with a mix of established dominance and breakthroughs from a new generation of Indian athletes.
(With agency inputs)
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