The star-studded cricket and hockey groups predictably defended their crowns, however it was 17-year-old archer Kumkum Mohod and golfer Pranavi Urs who scripted surprising historical past, including to the late gold rush that powered India to a creditable fourth place within the Asian Video games in Nagoya on Saturday (October 3, 2026).
Additionally Learn: Asian Games 2026 India’s medallists: Full list of winners
The nation couldn’t repeat or higher the 106 medals claimed within the earlier version, however the haul of 85 is a good sufficient efficiency, though higher was anticipated, particularly from shooters and badminton gamers. Ultimately, India secured 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze medals.
Eleven of those 21 gold medals got here within the final two days and the ultimate positions might nonetheless change barely, as a few equestrian competitions are scheduled on Sunday, the place India’s nearest competitor, Uzbekistan, is within the fray.
However Saturday was a day filled with celebrations for the nation as acquainted stars of cricket and hockey delivered with elan.
The Shreyas Iyer-led cricket staff secured a 19-run win over arch-foes Pakistan in Nisshin, the hockey gamers, led by the redoubtable Harmanpreet Singh, had been additionally scientific in Kakamigahara towards Malaysia, beating them 5-1 within the last.
For the hockey facet, the gold additionally secured direct qualification to the 2028 Olympic Video games in Los Angeles.
One other gold winner on the day was the very under-stated Olympic bronze-medallist Aman Sehrawat. He picked up high honours within the 57kg class, reaffirming his calibre.
However Pranavi and Kumkum had been the standout tales of the day.
Whereas Kumkum grew to become the primary Indian girl archer to win a person recurve gold, Pranavi achieved the identical in golf, each displaying super poise beneath stress.
Kumkum, in truth, could be heading again residence with two gold and a silver medal to her credit score in what can solely be referred to as a dream debut on the Video games. {The teenager} from Maharashtra additionally secured a person quota place for India within the Olympic Video games.
Pranavi additionally managed multiple medal because the Indian girls’s golf staff completed with a silver, thanks largely to her efficiency.
The opposite silver medal on the day got here from wrestler Antim Panghal (girls’s 53kg), whereas recurve archer Neeraj Chauhan defeated his higher-rated compatriot Dhiraj Bommadevara to bag the boys’s particular person bronze.
Archers finish on a excessive
After sweeping the compound staff occasion golds and securing a first-ever girls’s staff recurve gold, Kumkum’s high end made it a marketing campaign to recollect for the archery contingent.
Kumkum defeated South Korea’s Oh Yejin 6-5 within the last after going previous high-quality opponents within the earlier two rounds.
She edged reigning world champion Kang Chaeyoung within the quarterfinal earlier than placing it previous world championships silver-medallist and former world No. 1 China’s Jingyi Zhu within the semifinal in a marketing campaign to recollect.
The boys’s run, nevertheless, ended on a barely disappointing observe with Dhiraj and Neeraj squaring off for a bronze after failing to maneuver past the semifinals.
The archers signed off with 9 medals, together with 5 gold medals.
Pranavi’s Golf Gold
Unable to sleep the earlier night time resulting from nerves, Pranavi was calmness personified as she held on to a slender one-stroke lead within the last spherical to attain a historic girls’s particular person gold in golf that additionally helped the nation declare the staff silver.
The 23-year-old from Mysore despatched in three birdies to recuperate from a horrendous triple bogey on the third gap, which had wiped away her three-stroke in a single day lead.
With a last spherical rating of even-par 70, she ended with a complete of 15-under 265 for 4 days, a stroke forward of the pack.
“I like being the primary to do issues. Individuals will come alongside to do extra however the first will all the time be the primary,” a jubilant Pranavi mentioned after the historic triumph.
Pranavi’s efficiency additionally grew to become an important consider fetching India the staff silver, with different members being Aditi Ashok (67 within the last spherical) and Diksha Dagar (77 within the last spherical).
Aditi, who had received a person silver within the final version of the Video games, produced her finest efficiency of the week, slamming in six consecutive birdies towards a double bogey and a bogey, to log out tied 14th individually with a two-over 282 complete. Diksha ended tied twenty third on the person leaderboard with a 12-over complete.
The 2 finest scores are taken into consideration for deciding the staff medals and India ended 14-under 546, effectively behind gold-winners China (22-under 538).
Anticipated golds in cricket, hockey
Abhishek Sharma was the acquainted nemesis upfront, whereas Tilak Varma grew to become a tormentor in direction of the top as India lived as much as its high billing by defending the Asian Video games males’s cricket gold with a 19-run win over Pakistan.
The pitch was a difficult one however eased out later as world’s No. 1 T20I batter Abhishek smashed 61 off 28 balls, studded with seven sixes, and vice-captain Tilak silenced his critics with a top-notch unbeaten 51 off 22 balls.
India posted a mammoth 211 for six and although an unheralded Hasan Nawaz (96 off 51 balls) gave the whole lot he needed to make a match of it, the outcome supplied no surprises.
Pakistan had been stopped at 192 for six in the long run and India prolonged their dominance over the arch-rivals to take the head-to-head from the beginning of the 2024 T20 World Cup to 6-0.
In between, Nawaz punished the Indian spinners earlier than Jasprit Bumrah’s expertise (0/33 in 4 overs) and Washington Sundar’s (2/29 in 4 overs) calmness ensured that there have been no surprises in the long run.
On the hockey subject too, it was India all the way in which as captain Harmanpreet Singh rose to the event with a brace to star in a 5-1 win over Malaysia that didn’t safe gold for the second time but in addition ensured a ticket to the 2028 Olympics.
The boys’s staff’s gold got here a day after the ladies defeated higher-ranked defending champions China 1-0 within the last to clinch the title after 44 years and likewise e-book an Olympic spot. That is the primary time that each the women and men have ended on high in the identical version of the continental showpiece.
Captain Harmanpreet (eleventh and 57th), Jugraj Singh (twenty third), Hardik Singh (forty second) and Shilanand Lakra (54th) scored for India. For Malaysia, Shello Silverius pulled one again within the 14th minute. Together with his twin strikes, Harmanpreet additionally ended because the match’s high scorer with 12 targets to his credit score.
Aman shines on wrestling mat
Aman upgraded his Asian Video games bronze to gold, whereas Antim Panghal’s bid to turn out to be solely the second Indian girl wrestler to win the continental title led to disappointment after being outclassed by Japan’s Moe Miyooka within the last.
India signed off with six medals — two gold, two silver and two bronze — in the most effective reveals within the occasion, particularly after lacking out on top-of-the-podium place within the Hangzhou Video games in 2023.
Amanvheld his nerve to beat North Korea’s reigning World Champion Chong Tune Han 10-7 within the males’s 57kg last.
This was India’s second wrestling gold after Sujeet Kalkal’s sensational title win on Friday.
India beforehand received two wrestling gold medals on the Asian Video games after the 2018 Jakarta sport when Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat had triumphed of their respective males’s and girls’s occasions.
