Asian Games 2026: How did India fare?

The 2026 Asian Games, held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, are now concluded.

The Indian contingent ended their campaign in fourth place with 21 Gold medals, 27 Silver medals, and 37 Bronze medals, rounding up a tally of 85 medals. China topped the table, winning 162 Gold medals with a total of 314 medals. Japan finished in second place with 72 Gold medals and a total of 240 medals, while South Korea finished ahead of India in third place with 33 Gold medals and a total of 134 medals. 

Although India failed to surpass the highs of Hangzhou 2023, where they clinched 107 medals, they did manage to finish strongly after a poor start to secure a fourth-place finish. 

Here we take a look at some of the records and key stats, the top-performing disciplines, as well as the under-performing ones.

New records, key stats, and historic firsts 

• Vithya Ramraj broke PT Usha’s long-standing national record (55.42s) in the 400m hurdles with a timing of 54.75 seconds, also bagging bronze. 

• Neeru Dhanda became the first-ever woman trap shooter to win an individual Gold, also creating a new Asian Games record of 28 shots from 30 targets.

• The duo of Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet shot to a Gold medal win with an Asian record of 484.6 in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event. 

• India’s marathon man Sawan Barnwal broke his own national record by 21 seconds, bagging a Silver in men’s marathon with a timing of 2:11:37. India ended a 44-year drought to win a medal in the discipline.

• Parul Choudhary bettered her own national record by 3.79 seconds with a timing of 9.08.67 in the 3000m steeplechase event, winning a Bronze. 

• Dev Meena set a men’s pole vault national record of 5.50m, even though he missed a podium finish narrowly. 

• The Indian mixed relay team of Animesh Kujur, Gurindervir Singh, Harita Bhadra, and Sneha Shanuvali also clocked a new national record of 41.06 seconds on their way to a Bronze. 

• Pranavi Urs became the first woman golfer to bag an individual Gold at the Asian Games for India.

• Baranica Elangovan became the first Indian pole vaulter to win a medal (Bronze) at the Asian Games. 

• 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod became the first Indian recurve archer to win an individual Gold medal.

• India won its first-ever Gold in the women’s team recurve archery, defeating multiple-time former champions South Korea in the final.

• Jay Meena won India’s first-ever medal (Bronze) in soft tennis in the men’s singles category.  

• Suji Kataral won India’s first-ever medal in mixed martial arts (60kg category), earning a hard-fought Bronze.

• India swept the team events in cricket, hockey, and kabaddi, winning Gold in both the men’s and women’s categories. 

• India’s only Gold in athletics arrived in the Women’s 4×400 m relay, with the team comprising Vithya Ramraj, Kiran Pahal, Prachi Choudhary, and Poovamma MR. 

• Gulveer Singh (athletics), Vithya Ramraj (athletics), Neeru Dhanda (shooting), Kumkum Mohod (archery), Chikhita Taniparthi (archery), Sahil Jadhav (archery) and Rudrankksh Patil (shooting) all ended the campaign with outstanding performances, winning three medals each.

• Cricketer Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the youngest medal winner from India at 15 years, 6 months and 6 days old, while skeet shooter Mairaj Ahmad Khan became the oldest medal winner at 50 years old.

Top-performing disciplines 

Here are the disciplines India dominated at the 2026 Asian Games.

Archery

Archery came to India’s rescue at this Asiad, with India performing well in both compound and recurve archery. India swept the compound archery team events with Gold medals in the men’s, women’s, and mixed team events. India also won a Bronze in the men’s compound individual event.

In the recurve category, India outperformed in this edition with five medals, including two Golds, in the women’s individual and women’s team events, a Silver in the men’s team event and the mixed team event, as well as a bronze in the men’s individual event.

Overall, the archers brought home nine medals: five Golds, two Silvers, and two Bronzes. India were the top-performing country in archery at the 2026 Asian Games, even outperforming the usually dominant South Koreans, which is a huge positive for India’s chances at the LA 2028 Olympics.

Boxing

The Indian boxing contingent didn’t disappoint after the incredible success at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games.

Three Indian boxers: Ankush Panghal (men’s 80kg), Parveen Hooda (women’s 65kg), and Lovlina Borgohain (women’s 75kg), reached the final of their respective categories; all three clinched Gold. Priya Ghanghas (women’s 60kg), Kapil Pokhariya (men’s 90 kg), and Narender (men’s +90kg) also confirmed a podium finish by reaching the semi-finals and winning Bronze.

India topped the Asian Games 2026 standings in boxing with three Golds and three Bronzes, which marked the country’s best boxing performance in Asiad history.

Wrestling

Few of the wrestlers might have disappointed a bit, but by and large the Indian wrestlers overcame their poor start to bring home some much-needed medals in the latter stages of the competition to make it a fairly successful Asian Games campaign.

Notable performances came from Sujeet Kalkal (men’s 65kg freestyle) and Aman Sehrawat (men’s 57kg freestyle), both winning Gold in their respective categories. Kalkal upset the reigning Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka in the semi-finals en route to his Gold medal, while Sehrawat defeated the reigning world champion Han Chong-song of North Korea in the final to bring home the Gold.

Antim Panghal (women’s 53kg freestyle) and Nitesh Siwach (men’s 97kg Greco-Roman) bagged Silver, while Deepak Punia (men’s 97kg freestyle) and Sunil Kumar (men’s 87kg Greco-Roman) brought home the Bronze.

This was India’s best performance at the Asian Games, second only to the Jakarta Games in 1962 where the country won 12 medals, including three Golds. Here, India won six total medals: two Golds, two Silvers, and two Bronze.

Under-performing disciplines

Here are the disciplines in which the Indian contingent left a lot to be desired.

Shooting

Indian shooters are considered some of the best in the world, with several of them having also won Olympic and world championship medals. But this Asian Games campaign from the shooting contingent was fairly underwhelming.

Indian shooters bagged a total of 15 medals (three Gold, eight Silver, and four Bronze medals) out of a possible 28. In comparison, they delivered a superb performance in the previous edition in Hangzhou, China, where they clinched 22 medals: seven Gold, nine Silver, and six Bronze medals. 

Indian shooters performed poorly in the rifle and air pistol events. India’s biggest medal prospect, Manu Bhaker, returned empty-handed. If not for the skeet and trap shooting teams providing a haul of medals in team and individual events, winning two Gold medals towards the end of the tournament, India’s shooting campaign would have been a total disaster.

Badminton

India’s badminton contingent produced a below-par performance as well. Both the men’s and women’s teams failed to reach the semis, while none of the individual players, as well as women’s and men’s doubles players, were able to secure a podium finish. 

This was India’s worst performance at the Asian Games. The last edition was a historic one, as they won a Gold in men’s doubles, a Silver in the men’s team event, and a Bronze in men’s singles, making it three medals from eight events.

Tennis

Indian tennis players performed incredibly well at the Asian Games previously, but this time they too had an underwhelming campaign. They returned empty-handed from the Games, with none of our players and teams even making it to a Bronze game.

This was again a dismal performance, as much was expected from the likes of Sumit Nagal, Dhakshineswar Suresh, Yuki Bhambri, Ankita Raina, and Rutuja Bhosale.

India returned with a mixed doubles Gold and a men’s doubles Silver from Hangzhou last time out, and with China and Japan producing more tennis stars now, it’s only going to be more difficult for India, unless the players are supported by the country’s tennis federation.

Conclusion 

India started their Asian Games 2026 campaign in a very disappointing manner, especially with the underwhelming performances in shooting and athletics. But the athletes picked up the pace in the latter stages and led the nation to a fourth-place finish behind China, Japan, and South Korea in the overall medals tally.

After the massive success of the 2023 Asian Games, the expectations were huge, as India were expected to push for around 150 total medals this time, but it wasn’t to be. Compared to the 107 medals in the previous edition, 85 feels underwhelming.

However, while some of our medal prospects failed to deliver, a few Indian athletes broke new ground, winning first-ever medals and ending long-standing droughts. Some even broke national and continental records with their exceptional performances.

Boxing, archery, and wrestling proved to be the most outstanding contributors for India, giving the country some hope for the 2028 LA Olympics. India also swept the team events in cricket and hockey, which was another positive ahead of LA 2028. 

While the Indian contingent weren’t as successful as we hoped for, now we need to look to the future, towards the most elite multi-discipline event: the LA Olympics. If the Asian Games felt difficult, the level of the Olympics, with so many top athletes participating, is going to be even more challenging. 

The Indian athletes need to first ensure qualification to the showpiece event if they haven’t managed that yet. Beyond that, considerable physical and mental preparation will still be required to ensure that our medal hopefuls maintain peak fitness, consistently enhance their performances, and stay motivated to give their very best in two years’ time. 

Sources for stats
www.olympics.com
https://olympic.ind.in/asian-games-2026/
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/asian-games 2026/