President Droupadi Murmu credited the country's athletes for their performance at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, noting in a statement that dedication, ability, and persistence had brought distinction to India — a tournament that ended with the country's contingent collecting 85 medals in total, spread across 21 gold, 27 silver, and 37 bronze finishes.
Gold medals across cricket, kabaddi, and hockey formed the centrepiece of an overall effort that also featured athletes setting new performance benchmarks, nations stepping onto the podium for the first time, and individuals achieving milestones not previously reached in their disciplines.
In a post on X, Murmu noted that the 2026 Asian Games had brought forward strong displays from the country's athletes. Members of the Indian contingent drew widespread acknowledgement for the commitment and effort they brought to their participation on behalf of the country. The medal-winning athletes — including those who competed in women's events — recorded results that drew attention across the competition. Dedication, technical ability, and persistence displayed by the competitors translated into a record of achievement that reflected well on the country.
The closing message extended best wishes to all athletes for ongoing success and further accomplishments, as the country wrapped up the competition placed fourth in the overall medal table, having collected 21 gold, 27 silver, and 37 bronze medals. At these Games, Japan's role as host nation placed it second on the overall standings with 269 medals — 83 of them gold — while China collected 341 medals in total, 169 of which were gold. A tally of 150 medals — 39 of them gold — placed South Korea third on the overall standings, per Olympics.com data.
A total of 85 medals came back from the campaign — a tally that fell short of the 106 gathered at Hangzhou in 2023, a haul that had included 28 gold, yet the effort still drew on contributions spanning a range of disciplines.
Across cricket, kabaddi, and hockey — the three team-based disciplines fielding both a men's and a women's squad — every gold medal on offer went to India, with all six titles claimed and no podium-topping finish left on the table.
On the cricket field, both the women's and men's national squads claimed tournament titles, with the latter edging Pakistan by 19 runs in the final to seal a sweep across the two competitions. Batting contributions from Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, and Axar Patel carried the men's side to a gold medal, a result that came alongside the women's team having earlier beaten Sri Lanka by 147 runs to claim their own title in the women's final.
The kabaddi competition concluded with one side claiming every available contest. Two tightly contested gold-medal matches ended in victory for both Indian squads, with the women's side edging Iran 37-34 and the men's unit overcoming a deficit to seal a 40-34 result against the same opponents. Nine out of ten editions since kabaddi entered the Asian Games programme as a men's team event in 1990 have yielded a gold medal for India — a tally that now includes the latest title in the men's competition. A bronze-medal finish in 2018 stood as the lone departure from that pattern.
Field hockey rounded out a full podium sweep across every team discipline. A 44-year absence from the Asian Games medal podium came to an end for the women's team when Lalremsiami put the ball past China's goalkeeper in the tenth minute, and that solitary goal held through the final whistle to secure the title. For the first time in 42 years — dating to the 1982 edition of the Asian Games — the women's hockey gold medal went to India at this tournament.
Posting a 5-1 scoreline against Malaysia in the gold-medal match, the men's squad retained the Asian Games title it had claimed at the previous edition. The tournament also marked the first occasion both the men's and women's hockey squads claimed gold at the same edition, with the men's title representing a fifth such honour — added to those secured in 1966, 1998, 2014, and 2022.
Distributed across ten archery disciplines, the combined medal count reached nine — comprising five gold, two silver, and two bronze — while athletes also secured their berths on the roster for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. At 17, Kumkum Mohod secured the individual recurve gold medal at the Asian Games through a shoot-off victory over Oh Yejin of South Korea, becoming the first archer from India to claim that title. Locked at 5-5 heading into the shoot-off, Oh posted an eight while Kumkum answered with a perfect 10, securing both the title and an LA 2028 Olympic quota place for India.
Three medals came Kumkum's way at the Games — a gold as part of the women's recurve team, a silver shared with Dhiraj Bommadevara in the mixed recurve team contest, and the individual gold she had secured earlier. Recurve bronze at the men's individual level went to Neeraj Chauhan, while the compound archery contingent from India collected three team gold medals alongside a further individual bronze.
Three gold medals and an equal number of bronze finishes made boxing India's standout contributor at the Asian Games in terms of top-podium returns. Three athletes — Lovlina Borgohain, Parveen Hooda, and Ankush Panghal — each claimed the top podium position, with bronze-medal finishes distributed among Kapil Pokhariya, Narender Berwal, and Priya Ghanghas.
Turning 29 that same day, Lovlina claimed the women's 75kg title after all five judges scored the bout in her favour over China's Ziyi Bao. A place on the podium at the Hangzhou Games had brought her a silver medal; at the Asian Games that followed, she claimed the gold in boxing to become only the second Indian woman — after Mary Kom — to reach the top of that particular podium. In the 65kg women's final, a 3-2 victory over Chen Nien-Chin — who had claimed both a Paris 2024 Olympic bronze and a world championship title — brought Parveen the gold. Panghal rounded out the gold-medal haul by outpointing Kim Min-seong of South Korea across all four judges in the 80kg men's final.
Six medals came back from wrestling — a pair of gold, a pair of silver, and two bronze. Competing in the 57kg freestyle event at the men's level, Aman Sehrawat — who had taken bronze at Paris 2024 — secured a gold-medal finish by posting an 11-7 result over Han Chong Song, the reigning world champion from North Korea. In the 65kg freestyle category for men, Sujeet Kalkal took the top podium position.
Four medals were distributed across wrestling's freestyle and Greco-Roman disciplines, with Antim Panghal and Nitesh Siwach each collecting silver — in the women's 53kg and Greco-Roman 97kg bouts respectively — while Deepak Punia and Sunil Kumar brought home bronze through the men's freestyle 97kg and Greco-Roman 87kg contests. Wrestling's six-medal return at an Asian Games — a total not matched since India competed in Jakarta in 1962 — came alongside a shooting programme that gathered 15 medals in all, with three of them gold, eight silver, and four bronze.
Trap shooting at the Asian Games handed Neeru Dhanda a pair of gold medals and a silver, placing her in the record books as the first woman from India to claim an individual gold in any shotgun discipline at the continental competition. Teaming up with Kynan Chenai in the mixed trap event, she claimed the gold medal on offer. A new Asian record set during the final propelled Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet to the top of the podium in the 10-metre air pistol mixed team competition.
Across rifle disciplines, Rudrankksh Patil accumulated a three-medal haul, Elavenil Valarivan secured a pair of silver finishes, and Esha Singh picked up silver in the women's 25m pistol category.
Track and field stood as the discipline that generated the most podium finishes for India, with a total haul of 24 — broken down into one gold, nine silver, and 14 bronze. Four runners — Kiran Pahal, Machettira Poovamma, Prachi Choudhary, and Vithya Ramraj — combined in the 4x400m relay to bring home the athletics competition's lone gold medal for India. A clocking of 54.75 seconds over the 400 metres hurdles carried Vithya's name into the national record books, displacing the mark PT Usha had held since her 1984 Los Angeles Olympics campaign.
Three podium finishes came Singh's way across the distance events — a pair of runner-up placings in the 10,000m and 1500m, along with third place in the 5000m. Barwal's finishing time of 2:11:37 in the men's marathon — a new national record — brought India its first podium finish in that discipline in 44 years, with a silver medal attached to the result. Sarvesh Kushare claimed a men's high jump silver — a first for the nation at the Asian Games — while Baranica Elangovan's bronze in women's pole vault placed her among the country's Asian Games medallists for the first time in that discipline.
Pranavi Urs secured an individual gold medal in golf at the Asian Games, becoming the first Indian woman to do so. With a four-round aggregate of 265 — four strokes clear of the 15-under benchmark — the 23-year-old from Mysuru edged out Yin Ruoning and Singapore's Shannon Tan by a single stroke to lift the trophy. A silver medal in the women's team event came to India through the combined efforts of Pranavi, Aditi Ashok, and Diksha Dagar.
From the squash courts, a total of five podium finishes were recorded — a pair of silver placings alongside three bronze. Anahat Singh finished with silver in the women's singles draw, while Abhay Singh matched that podium position in the men's competition; the pair's haul was then extended when Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar combined in mixed doubles to collect a bronze.
Three podium finishes came from sailing, with the pairing of Manu Francis and Prince Kurisinkal Noble earning a silver medal in the men's skiff event — a result that marked the first time the sport had brought that colour of medal to India at the Asian Games. A bronze podium finish for Nethra Kumanan brought India back into the women's dinghy medal picture for the first time in 12 years.
Chanu's 198kg total in the women's 49kg weightlifting event at the Asian Games brought her onto the podium in second place, a result that marked her first medal at the continental competition. Tariya secured a bronze in the women's traditional -60kg MMA category at the Asian Games, a podium finish that gave India its first medal in that discipline at the event. A bronze medal in men's singles soft tennis came to Jay Meena at the Asian Games, marking the first podium finish for India in that discipline.
Podium finishes arrived across two further disciplines: Satnam Singh and Salman Khan claimed a bronze in the double sculls rowing event, while the badminton men's team rounded out the tally with a third-place finish of their own. Manush Shah and Diya Chitale claimed a mixed doubles bronze in table tennis, placing that result among only four medals the sport has delivered for India across all editions of the Asian Games.
