On the 9th day of the Asian Games, Sunday, India won 5 medals in athletics — 2 silver and 3 bronze.
So far in the ongoing Games, shooting had been India’s most successful event with the highest number of medals (11), but athletics has now surpassed that tally (13).
India also secured 2 silver medals in squash, while three boxers have advanced to the semifinals, ensuring themselves a medal.
Athletics Silver:
High Jump - In the men's high jump, Sarvesh Kushare cleared 2.25 meters to win silver. Chinese Taipei's Chao Chuan Fu also cleared the same height, and gold went to him on the basis of clearing it on his first attempt. Sarvesh had cleared that height on his second attempt. South Korea's Sanghyeok Woo won bronze (2.22 m). Another Indian in the field, Adarsh Jyothishankar, finished 13th (2.05 m).
Long Jump - In the women’s long jump, Ancy Sojan finished second with a leap of 6.53 meters to win the silver medal. China’s Yingying Huang won gold with 6.55 m, while her compatriot Mengyi Tan took bronze with 6.46 m. Another Indian, Shaili Singh, finished fourth with 6.42 m and missed out on a medal.
Bronze:
200 m - In the women’s 200-meter race, Haritha Pandra finished third to win the bronze medal. She crossed the finish line in 23.20 seconds. Singapore’s Shanti Pereira won gold (22.78’), and Japan’s Aido Abigerufuka won silver (23.21’). Another Indian in the field, Unnati Aiyappa Poland, finished sixth (23.48’).
Decathlon - In the men's decathlon, Tejaswin Shankar finished 3rd with 7,934 points and won the bronze medal. Among the various events in the competition, he impressed by finishing first in the 1,500 m race. Japan's Yuma Maruyama won gold (8,123), and China's Jinghua Chen won silver (8,012).
It is noteworthy that Tejaswin also won bronze at this year's Commonwealth Games.
3000 m steeplechase - In the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, Parul Chaudhary reached the finish line in 9 minutes, 8.67 seconds and won bronze with a 3rd-place finish. Bahrain's Winfred Yavi won gold (9:4.36’), and Kazakhstan's Nora Jeruto won silver (9:6.82’).
In the men’s long jump, Murali Sreeshankar and David Putturaj Solomon advanced to the final. In the qualifying round, Sreeshankar finished second with 7.84 meters, while Solomon placed seventh with 7.62 meters.
In the men’s 400-meter hurdles, Santhosh Tamilarasan advanced to the final by finishing second in 49.61 seconds, while another Indian, Yashas Palaksha, was eliminated after failing to complete the race. In the women’s section, Vidya Ramraj (55.73) and Anu Raghavan (55.84) finished second in their respective heats to reach the final.
In the women’s 20 km race walk, Manju Rani finished the race in 1 hour, 40.17 minutes and took 6th place. Fellow Indian Priyanka was disqualified.
Squash
India’s Abhay Singh and Anahat Singh, in their singles final, could not withstand the challenge of the reigning champions and lost, settling for silver. India’s dream of winning gold in the singles event at the Asian Games has been pushed back further.
In the men’s singles final, Abhay Singh lost to Malaysia’s Nick Yew in straight sets, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5. In the women’s singles final, Anahat Singh was defeated by Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam 4-11, 4-11, 7-11.
Earlier, Saurav Ghosal had come close twice to winning gold in the singles event and settled for silver (2014, 2023).
Had India won gold at these Asian Games, it would have secured a place in squash, which will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Having missed that chance, Indian players will now have to try through other qualification opportunities for those Olympics.
Boxing
India’s Parveen Hooda, Ankush Panghal, and Narendra Barwal advanced to the semifinals and secured 3 medals. In the women’s 65 kg quarterfinal, Parveen Hooda defeated Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor Khamidova 5-0. In the men’s +90 kg category, he defeated Thailand’s Atthapong Chaengthep by RSC. In the men’s 80 kg category, Ankush beat Tajikistan’s Nekruz Salimov 5-0. However, in the men’s 60 kg category, Sachin Shivach lost 0-5 to Japan’s Shunsuke Kitamoto.
Archery
In the compound division, the Indian men’s and women’s teams advanced to the semifinals. The Indian men’s team, comprising Kushal Dalal, Sahil Jadhav, and Ganesh Manirathnam, defeated the United Arab Emirates 232-215 in the round of 16 and Bhutan 235-232 in the quarterfinals.
The Indian women’s team, comprising Jyothi Surekha, Chikitha Dhiniparthi, and Prithika Pradeep, defeated Mongolia 238-223 in the pre-quarterfinals and Kazakhstan 233-230 in the quarterfinals. In the compound mixed team event, the Indian team of Kushal Dalal and Prithika Pradeep defeated Mongolia 160-46 in the first round and Kazakhstan 159-154 in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals.
In the men’s recurve team event, the trio of Dheeraj Bomdevara, Sanjay Boke, and Neeraj Chauhan first defeated the Philippines 5-1, and then beat China by the same score in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals. The women’s team, comprising Kumkum Mohoth, Ankita Bhagat, and Keerthi, also defeated Mongolia 6-0 first, and then Chinese Taipei by the same score in the quarterfinals to qualify for the semifinals. In the mixed team event, the Dheeraj-Kumkum pair first beat the United Arab Emirates and then Vietnam 6-0 to reach the semifinals.
Volleyball
In its first match of the group stage, the Indian men’s team defeated Vietnam 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-20). It will face Hong Kong in its next match on Monday.
Sepaktakraw
In this volleyball-like sport, which is played using parts of the body other than the hands, the Indian team in the women’s doubles category, comprising Preethi Langoljam and Menenu Sukru, lost its first group-stage match to South Korea 8-15, 3-15, and then to the Philippines 12-15, 6-15. It will face Japan in its final match on Monday. The Indian men’s team had already been eliminated after losing its chance to reach the semifinals.
Fencing
In this fencing event, in the women’s sabre team quarterfinals, the Indian team comprising C.A. Bhavani Devi, Shreya Gupta, and Jaflin Simla lost 35-45 to Uzbekistan. With this, India’s campaign in fencing at the ongoing Asian Games came to an end. It is noteworthy that a 20-member Indian contingent took part in this.
Weightlifting
In the women’s 69 kg weight category, Harjinder Kaur finished in 9th place. She lifted 94 kg in the snatch and 110 kg in the clean & jerk, for a total of 204 kg. North Korea’s Song Kuk Hyang lifted 273 kg to win gold with a world record, while Chinese Taipei’s Wen Hwei Chen (232 kg) won silver and Bahrain’s Ingrid Guruso (229 kg) took bronze.
Badminton
In the quarterfinals, two-time Olympic medalist P.V. Sindhu lost 1-2 to China’s Yu Fei Chen in the women’s singles. Unnati Hooda lost 1-2 to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi.
In the women’s doubles, the pair of Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand lost 0-2 to the Malaysian pair. In mixed doubles, the duo of Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto went down 1-2 to the Chinese pair.
Kurash
In the quarterfinals of this martial art, which is similar to wrestling, Vishal lost 0-5 to Thailand’s Kunatip Yao in the men’s +90 kg category. Another Indian, Yashkumar Chauhan, also fell to Tajikistan’s Shakharmat Mirmatov.
In the women’s 57 kg category, Sangeetha lost 0-10 to the Philippines’ Charmia Gelino, while Bharathi went down 0-3 to Iran’s Tahereh Azarpeyvans.