9 Best Indian Performances at the 2026 Asian Games
India performed well at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan after the event returned to its traditional four-year cycle.
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India at Asian Games 2026 (Image via TOI)
The 2026 Asian Games held at Aichi and Nagoya in Japan concluded on October 4. For India what looked to be a disastrous performance in the beginning of the Games turned into a remarkable comeback.
Team India ended their run with a finish of 21 Golds, 27 Silvers and 37 Bronzes for a total of 85 medals and a 4th place spot on the overall medal table.
This was the second-best Asiad performance in the nation’s history, bettered only by the 28 Golds and 106 medals in the previous edition in 2023.
India’s 2026 campaign was revived thanks to incredible performances by a number of athletes, some of which are described below.
Neeru Dhanda
Trap Shooting has historically been among India’s weaker events at every international shooting tournament. That record was changed by 26-year-old Neeru Dhanda.
At a time when Indian rifle and pistol shooters were struggling to get medals of any color, Neeru Dhanda not only topped the Women’s Trap qualifications with a score of 118 but also ensured her good form continued into the finals.
She won Gold with a new Asian Record score of 28, ahead of shooters from China, Kuwait, Chinese Taipei, Qatar and Kazakhstan. She became the first Indian to win Gold in the Women’s Trap Individual event at the Asian Games.
She later won another Gold in the Mixed Trap event along with Kynan Chenai. The Indians again set a new Asian Record of 34.
Neeru also won a Silver in the Women’s Trap Team event along with Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer.
The Asiad performance wasn’t exactly new territory for Neeru – she had already become the first Indian woman to win Women’s Trap Gold at an ISSF World Cup by winning in Lonato in July 2026.
By winning two major tournaments in a space of 3 months, Neeru has already established herself as the greatest Women’s Trap shooter from India; it won’t be a surprise if she reaches even greater heights.
It was certainly not a surprise that she was named India’s flagbearer at the closing ceremony of the 2026 Asian Games.
Kumkum Mohod
South Korea are pretty much the Gold Standard when it comes to recurve archery. The nation’s Olympic and Asian Games record speaks for itself.
So when 17-year old Kumkum Mohod defeated not just one but two South Korean archers on the way to Women’s Individual Recurve Gold at the 2026 Asian Games, it had to make the archery world sit up and take notice of an upcoming prodigy.
Kumkum, who was ranked 10th after qualifications, defeated South Korea’s Kang Chae-young 6-4 in the Women’s Recurve Quarterfinals, China’s Zhu Jingyi 6-2 in the Semifinals and finally another South Korean Oh Ye-jin 6-5 in the Gold Medal match.
There were no signs of nerves and jitters that have been typical of Indian archers in high-profile tournaments. Not just Gold, Kumkum’s win also got India an Olympic quota place for Los Angeles 2028.
Kumkum would undoubtedly have gained confidence after having already defeated South Korea 5-3 in the Women’s Recurve Team Gold Medal match alongside Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma a day prior to the Individual matches.
Kumkum also got a Silver along with Dhiraj Bommadevara in the Mixed Recurve event at the Games.
With 2 Golds and a Silver against some of the toughest opponents in the world, Kumkum Mohod was awarded the inaugural Jaspal Rana award by the Indian Olympic Association for the best female sportsperson at the 2026 Asian Games.
Indian Women’s Field Hockey Team
The 5th place finish at 2026 Women’s Hockey World Cup was a sign of the progress the Indian team had made since Sjoerd Marijne was reappointed as coach in January 2026.
The Indian team had managed to qualify for the World Cup and had also won back qualification into the FIH Pro League by winning the Nations Cup in June.
The World Cup performance was encouraging. Despite the squad featuring number of debutants, India managed draws against teams like China, England and Australia and also managed to defeat former Champions Germany to a 5th place finish – the nations best ever since 1974.
The 2026 Asian Games with the prospect of direct Olympic qualification were always going to be the biggest test for the team and one they passed with flying colors.
After thrashing lower ranked opponents in their initial matches, Indian team defeated former Champions Japan 3-1 in the group stage and South Korea in the semifinals to set up a Final clash with 2024 Olympic silver medalists China.
In the end the Indian team – which had not even qualified for Paris 2024 – managed to defeat the defending Asian Games Champions 1-0 with Lalremsiami Hmarzote’s goal and goalkeeper Savita Punia’s inspired performance proving the difference.
This was India’s first Asian Games title since 1982 and also ensured an Indian presence at the 2028 Olympics.
Sujeet Kalkal and Aman Sehrawat
The 2026 Asian Games brought a new generation of Indian wrestling to the forefront with Aman Sehrawat and Sujeet Kalkal building on the legacies of Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt and Bajrang Punia despite all the controversies that have plagued Indian wrestling in recent times.
2024 Olympic bronze medalist Aman defeated reigning World Champion Han Chong Song of North Korea 11-7 to win Gold in the Men’s 57 kg freestyle event. Aman was leading 6-1 at one stage in the final bout, before Han came back strongly to lead 7-6. Aman however reclaimed the lead in the last 30 seconds with a two-point throw and extended the lead to 11-7 in the end.
Another notable win of the tournament for the 23-year-old was against Japan’s Yamato Ogawa with a scoreline that read 20-9.
24-year-old Kalkal, meanwhile, produced two remarkable victories on the way to Gold in the Men’s 65 kg freestyle competition.
He first defeated reigning Olympic Champion and home favorite Kotaro Kiyooka in the semifinals, winning 3-3 on criteria after scoring the final point.
Then in the finals, he managed an incredible comeback. After trailing 2-9 against Tajikistan’s Abdulmazhid Kudiev, he scored four successive takedowns in the final 100 seconds to win the bout 10-9.
Sujeet Kalkal has already enjoyed an impressive run in 2026 including winning the Asian Championships in 2026. The Asian Games triumph already makes him one of India’s top medal contenders at the 2028 Olympics.
For his 2026 Asiad heroics, Sujeet was awarded the inaugural Raja Randhir Singh Award by the Indian Olympic Association for being adjudged the best male Indian sportsperson at the Games.
Lovlina Borgohain, Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal
Indian boxers had saved India’s campaign with a flurry of Golds on the last day of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, and something similar was in store for the 2026 Asian Games as well.
2021 Olympic Bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain defeated China’s Bao Ziyi 5-0 in the Women’s 75kg finals. This was perhaps 29-year-old Lovlina’s biggest win since the Tokyo Olympics, having gone thorough injuries, indifferent form and a number of silver medals since coming into the national limelight after her Olympic medal.
For 26-year-old Parveen Hooda, winning Gold at Aichi-Nagoya proved to be a redemption of sorts. Parveen was stripped of her 2023 Asian Games bronze by the International Testing Agency following a whereabouts failure and was ruled out of the Paris Olympics. At the 2026 CWG, she was the only female Indian boxer without a medal.
However, Parveen turned things around in style at the 2026 Asian Games by defeating Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien Chin by a score of 3-2 in the inaugural Women’s 65kg competition. She became only the third Indian woman to win an Asian Games Gold after MC Mary Kom and Lovlina.
21-year-old Ankush Panghal meanwhile was the best among the male Indian boxers and the only boxer in the entire contingent – male or female – to have won Gold in both the 2026 CWG and Asian Games.
Panghal defeated South Korea’s Kim Minseong 4-0 in the Men’s 80 kg finals. This was after his all-out attacking style had produced another memorable 4-1 win over reigning Men’s 75kg World Champion Fazliddin Erkinboev of Uzbekistan in the semifinals.
These wins have established Ankush as among the Indian boxers to watch out for in future tournaments, including at the next Olympics.
Shafali Verma
During the initial struggling days of India’s 2026 Asiad campaign when the lack of Gold medals was becoming a crisis, it was the Indian Women’s Cricket team that stood out by producing the first Gold for the country.
If there were a player-of-the-series award for the Asian Games cricket tournament, that award would undoubtedly have gone to Shafali Verma.
The 22-year-old’s all-round display played a key role in India defending their Asian Games title.
First, it was an important 40 not out in a brief run chase of 57 in the quarterfinals against Japan on a tricky pitch. Then, it was followed up with an unbeaten century against Bangladesh in the semifinals that got India to an imposing total of 195.
Finally, she had a score of 48 and 2 wickets for just 3 runs in the Gold Medal match against Sri Lanka that helped ensure an Indian win.
With Women’s cricket making its Olympic debut at LA 2028, Verma will be one of the stars to watch out for.
Honourable mentions
Gulveer Singh: For 3 medals including a Silver in Men’s 1500m (with a PB) and 10000m and a Bronze in Men’s 5000m and for being the highest-placing ethnic Asian in the Men’s 10000m event.
Parul Chaudhary: For a Bronze in Women’s 3000m Steeplechase with a new NR and for being the highest-placed ethnic Asian in the event.
Vithya Ramraj: For a Gold as part of the Indian Women’s 4x400m Relay team, a silver as part of the Indian Mixed 4x400m Relay team and bronze in Women’s 400m hurdles where she broke the long-standing NR set by PT Usha in the 1984 Olympics.
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