Aichi Asian Games 2026: India with 85 medals finishes fourth

• By Prabhjot Singh

AICHI, Japan (TIP): With a rare triple “double”, India ended its Aichi Asian Games 2026 campaign with 85 medals, including 21 gold, to finish fourth behind leaders China, hosts Japan and Korea.

India’s major consolation has been its record and historic “double” in hockey. It is for the first time since the inception of the Games in 1951 and 1958, when hockey was introduced, that India has had a gold medal finish in both men’s and women’s sections of the hockey competition.

By virtue of the gold medal finish, India’s men’s and women’s hockey teams have got a direct passage to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Besides hockey, Indian men’s and women’s teams also made it a “double” in kabaddi and cricket.

For India, of 21 gold medals, 14 came in team games or team events. The remaining eight came as individual gold medals.

Among the individual gold medal winners were Anil Kumkum Mohod (Archery – Recurve Women’s Individual), Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing women 75 kg), Parveen (Boxing women 68 kg), Ankush (Boxing men 80 kg), Pranavi Sharath Urs (Golf Women Individual stroke play), Meenu Dhanda (Shooting Trap women), Aman (wrestling free style 57 kg) and Sujeet (Wrestling men 65 kg).

In fact, women dominated, accounting for five of the eight individual gold medals. The women’s teams in archery, shooting, hockey, kabaddi and cricket also put up their best performances to end with gold medals.

Besides the major team games – cricket, kabaddi and hockey – it was archery that gave India the maximum number of medals. The bow and arrow got India 9 medals, including five gold followed by shooting that saw Indian stars winning 15 medals, including three gold, eight silver and four bronze medals. Boxing was another sport in which India did well, with three gold and as many bronze medals.

In track and field, in the absence of Neeraj Chopra, India got silver and bronze in javelin throw and ended with gold in the women’s 4×400 m relay, with a total tally of 24 medals, including nine silver and 14 bronze medals.

India had six medals in wrestling, with two medals each in the gold, silver, and bronze categories.

In squash, India had some disappointment as both Abhay Singh and Anahat Singh lost their gold medal matches but still ended with two silver and three bronze medals.

In water sports, sailing gave India three medals, including a silver, while rowing accounted for a single bronze. Weightlifting contributed a silver to the Indian tally.

Golf must have warmed the cockles of hearts of followers of this elite game as India ended with a gold and a silver, both coming in the women’s section.

Kurush, mixed martial arts, soft tennis and table tennis accounted for one bronze medal each.

India, however, ended without a medal in tennis.