India Wins First Gold at 2026 Asian Games

India secured its first gold medal of the 2026 Aichi Asian Games with a commanding 147-run victory over Sri Lanka in the women’s cricket final.

The victory placed India among the 18 countries that have won at least one gold medal at the Games. After three days of competition and 75 gold medals awarded, China led the standings with 32 golds. Host nation Japan was second with 11, followed by South Korea with six.

India climbed to eighth place in the medal standings following its cricket triumph. The country has won seven medals so far, including one gold, four silver and two bronze.

Although India did not add another medal during the day, its athletes delivered strong performances across several events.

In men’s hockey, India recorded an emphatic 16-1 victory over Sri Lanka. Drag-flicker Jugraj Singh scored four goals, while Abhishek and Dilpreet Singh contributed three each. Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored twice, while Vivek Sagar Prasad, Manpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh and Sukhjeet Singh added one goal apiece. Suresh Rathnayake scored Sri Lanka’s only goal.

India’s women’s badminton team lost 3-1 to Japan despite a competitive performance. Two-time Olympic medalist P.V. Sindhu took the opening game against Akane Yamaguchi 23-21 but lost the next two 18-21 and 11-21.

India’s lone victory in the tie came from the doubles team of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who defeated the Japanese pairing of Mayu and Yuki 21-17, 21-16.

The Indian men’s badminton team produced a dominant performance, defeating Japan 3-0 to set up a semifinal against China. Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty and the doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won their respective matches to complete the sweep.

Indian boxers also continued their promising run. In the men’s competition, Sumit earned a 5-0 victory over Thailand’s Bunjang Sinsiri in the 70-kilogram category. Jadumani Singh defeated Nepal’s Chandra Bahadur Thapa by the same margin in the 55-kilogram division.

In women’s boxing, Sakshi opened her campaign with a 5-0 victory over the Philippines’ Aira Villegas.

India, which has already won four silver medals and one bronze in shooting, remained in contention for additional medals. The Indian 10-meter air rifle mixed team qualified for the final with a score of 634.6. China topped the qualification round with 638.9.

In men’s skeet, Anant Jeet Singh Naruka finished joint first with a score of 96 to advance to the final. Mairaj Ahmad Khan was 23rd with 91, while Bhavtej Singh Gill finished 31st with 86. India was fifth in the team standings at the end of the opening day.

In the women’s skeet competition, Raiza Dhillon was fifth with a score of 92. Parinaaz Dhaliwal finished the first day in ninth place with 89, while Maheshwari Chauhan was 16th with 85.

India’s women’s table tennis team recovered from an early setback to defeat Thailand 3-2. However, the team’s campaign ended with a 3-0 quarterfinal loss to South Korea.

The Indian men’s table tennis team registered a convincing 3-0 victory over South Korea. 

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