Asian Games 2026: Shooting gold, athletics high and a Sat-Chi shocker on 6-medal day |

SHOOTING LEADS MEDAL CHARGE

Kamaljeet and Suruchi delivered India’s shooting gold in the mixed team 10m air pistol event.

The pair had topped qualification with 587 points before converting that position into gold in the medal round. It was a significant result after both shooters had missed out on individual medals.

Aishwary, Rudrankksh and Niraj added silver in the men’s 50m rifle 3P team event, continuing India’s strong presence in shooting.

Aishwary also reached the individual final and finished fifth, while Niraj ended eighth. The team medal, therefore, became the reward from an event in which India came close to another individual podium finish.

ATHLETICS ADDS THREE

Gulveer Singh improved on the bronze he won at the previous Asian Games by taking silver in the men’s 10,000m.

He clocked 28:29.38, finishing behind Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew and ahead of Albert Kipto. For Gulveer, the medal was another marker of his rise in long-distance running after a strong period that has seen him collect major medals and rewrite several Indian records.

The athletics programme then produced one of Friday’s most significant milestones.

Baranica Elangovan won a joint bronze in the women’s pole vault after clearing 4.15m, matching Kazakhstan’s Polina Ivanova. Both athletes had the same number of failures at 4.25m.

The medal was India’s first-ever Asian Games medal in pole vault, putting Baranica into the history books.

Manpreet Kaur completed India’s athletics medal haul with bronze in the women’s shot put. Her 17.17m effort placed her behind China’s Song Jiayuan and Zhang Linru. Manpreet had finished fifth at the previous Asian Games, making Friday’s podium finish a step up from Hangzhou.

There was less joy in the men’s 100m. Animesh Kujur and Gurindervir Singh both missed out on the final after failing to progress from their respective semifinals. Gurindervir finished fifth in Heat 2, while Animesh was seventh in Heat 3.

MANUSH, DIYA MAKE HISTORY TOO

Manush Shah and Diya Chitale gave India its first table tennis medal of the Games in mixed doubles.

The Indian pair produced a major quarterfinal win over Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kem and Wong Chun Ting, beating them 3-1 to ensure a podium finish.

They could not go further, losing 0-4 to China’s Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in the semifinals. But the bronze was still India’s second Asian Games mixed doubles medal, after Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra’s bronze in Jakarta.

Manush continued his singles campaign with a 4-0 win over Iran’s Benyamin Faraji, while Yashaswini Ghorpade defeated Syria’s Hend Zaza 4-1 to reach the women’s singles round of 16.

The rest of India’s day at the table was considerably less productive, with Manav Thakkar and Sreeja Akula exiting in singles and India’s doubles combinations also falling short.

KABADDI SET UP TWO GOLD-MEDAL CLASHES

Away from the medal events, India’s kabaddi teams gave the contingent another reason to look ahead to Saturday.

The defending champions both reached the finals, with the women defeating Nepal 48-24 and the men beating Thailand 66-28.

Both teams remain unbeaten and will face Iran in their respective finals. The women’s side built a 31-17 half-time lead against Nepal, while the men were 37-18 ahead at the interval against Thailand.

So while those results do not count towards Friday’s medal haul, they leave India with two opportunities to add gold on Saturday.

BADMINTON TAKES A BIG HIT

The biggest shock of the day came in badminton.

Defending men’s doubles champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were beaten in the opening round by Thailand’s Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun.

India’s pair won the first game 21-12 but could not close out the match, losing the next two 19-21, 14-21.

There were still positives in the badminton draw. Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila moved into the mixed doubles quarterfinals after two wins, while Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand progressed in women’s doubles. Unnati Hooda also advanced in women’s singles.

The contrast was particularly stark given India’s men’s team had already settled for bronze in the team event, while the women’s team failed to win a medal.

SWIMMING, FENCING DRAW BLANKS

India’s swimmers could not add to the medal tally.

Sajan Prakash, competing in his last Asian Games, finished seventh in the men’s 200m butterfly final in 1:58.42. Rishabh Das finished sixth and Utkarsh Patil seventh in the men’s 200m backstroke.

There were also disappointments in the 400m freestyle, where Dhanshan Shashikumar and Aneesh Gowda failed to reach the final.

Fencing produced another double exit. The men’s foil team lost 27-45 to Hong Kong, while the women’s epee team went down 29-45 to Uzbekistan in the round of 16.

SACHIN KEEPS BOXING HOPES ALIVE

Boxing offered a more positive note.

Sachin Siwach moved into the men’s 60kg quarterfinals with a 4-1 win over Jordan’s Mohammad Adnan Abu Jajeh. He will face Japan’s Shunsuke Kitamoto in the last eight, with a victory putting him into the medal positions.

Preeti Pawar’s campaign ended in the women’s 54kg round of 16, however, as she lost 0-5 to North Korea’s reigning Asian Games champion Pang Chol Mi.

For India, then, Friday was a day of substantial gains rather than an across-the-board sweep. Six medals provided the headline, three athletics podiums added historic significance, and shooting once again proved a reliable source of medals. At the same time, the exit of Satwik-Chirag and the blanks in swimming and fencing showed that the campaign remains a mix of breakthroughs and setbacks.

Saturday offers another chance to tilt that balance, with both kabaddi teams fighting for gold and several Indian athletes continuing their medal pursuits.

MEDALS WON

Shooting: Kamaljeet and Suruchi Inder Singh won gold in 10m air pistol mixed team event
Shooting: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudrankksh Patil and Niraj Kumar won silver in men’s 50m rifle 3 positions team event
Athletics: Gulveer Singh won silver in men’s 10,000m
Table tennis: Diya Chitale and Manush Shah won bronze in mixed doubles
Athletics: Manpreet Kaur won bronze in women’s shot put
Athletics: Baranica Elangovan won bronze in women’s pole vault

INTO THE NEXT ROUND

Squash: Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar beat Philippines’ David Pelino and Jemcya Aribado in mixed doubles quarterfinal, into semifinal and medal confirmed
Kabaddi: India women’s team beat Nepal in semifinal, into final
Kabaddi: India men’s team beat Thailand in semifinal, into final
Squash: Anahat Singh beat Tanvi Khanna in women’s singles quarterfinal, into semifinal
Squash: Abhay Singh beat Ryunosuke Tsukue 3-0 in men’s singles quarterfinal, into semifinal
Athletics: Vishal TK finished first in men’s 400m Heat 2, into final
Athletics: Kiran finished in women’s 400m Heat 2, into final
Athletics: Prachi finished third in women’s 400m Heat 3, into final
Swimming: Sajan Prakash finished third in men’s 200m butterfly Heat 3, into final
Swimming: Rishabh Das finished fourth and Utkarsh Patil ninth in men’s 200m backstroke heats, both into final
Table tennis: Manush Shah beat Faraji Benyamin in men’s singles Round 2, into Round 3
Table tennis: Yashaswini Ghorpade beat Hend Zaza in women’s singles Round 2, into Round 3
Badminton: Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto beat Soon Huat Goh and Jemie Shevon Lai in mixed doubles Round 2, advanced
Badminton: Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand beat Tsang Hiu Yan and Lui Lok Lok in women’s doubles Round 1, advanced
Badminton: Unnati Hooda beat Yu Mi Song in women’s singles Round 1, advanced
Surfing: Sugar Shanti Gayen, Kamali Prakash, Kishore Anbarashu and Sivaraj Babu advanced to shortboard Round 2
Canoe Sprint: Prohit Baroi and Prasanna Kumar finished fifth in semifinal, into Final B