Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu led India’s medal charge at the Asian Games 2026 on Wednesday, winning silver in the women’s 49kg category as the country added four more bronze medals across soft tennis, badminton and skeet shooting.
Chanu secured her maiden Asian Games medal with a combined lift of 198kg. She lifted 87kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk. North Korea’s Ri Song Gum won gold with 215kg, while Wijayana claimed bronze.
Jay Meena created history by winning India’s first-ever Asian Games medal in soft tennis. He secured bronze in the men’s singles event after losing 2-4 to Japan’s Takuya Kurosaka in the semi-final.
India also won bronze in the women’s skeet team event, with Parinaaz Dhaliwal, Raiza Dhillon and Maheshwari Chauhan finishing third with a combined score of 331. China won gold with 346 points, while Kazakhstan took silver.
The Indian men’s skeet team of Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Ahmed Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill also secured bronze. The Indian trio finished with 346 points and defeated Kazakhstan in a shoot-off.
The Indian men’s badminton team won bronze after losing 3-1 to China in the semi-final. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty registered India’s only win, defeating world champions Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20.
In wushu, Roshibina Devi advanced to the women’s 60kg Sanda final after winning her semi-final. She will now compete for gold on Thursday. Roshibina had won bronze at Jakarta 2018 and silver at Hangzhou 2023.
India’s women’s hockey team registered a commanding 20-1 victory over Thailand for its third consecutive win. Deepika Sehrawat scored nine goals, setting a new record for the most goals by an Indian woman in a single Asian Games hockey match.
In weightlifting, Gyaneshwari Yadav finished eighth in the women’s 53kg category with a combined lift of 195kg.
In squash, Veer Chotrani entered the men’s singles pre-quarter-finals after defeating Shamil Wakeel 3-0. India’s Abhay Singh and Tanvi Khanna had also registered wins in the opening round, while Anahat Singh will begin her campaign in the pre-quarter-finals.
Indian rowers also progressed across several events. Arvind Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Navdeep Singh and Jakar Khan qualified for Final A in the men’s quadruple sculls. Rohit-Ujwal Kumar Singh also advanced to Final A in the men’s lightweight double sculls.
Balraj Panwar qualified for Final A in the men’s single sculls, while Satnam Singh and Salman Khan advanced to the final in the men’s double sculls. In the women’s events, Gurbani Kaur, Aleena Anto, Tendenthoi Haobijam and Poonam progressed to Final A in the women’s four.
In table tennis, Manush Shah and Diya Chitale entered the mixed doubles quarter-finals after defeating Maldives 3-0. Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade also advanced to the last eight with a 3-1 victory over Hong Kong, China.
In canoe sprint, Parvathy Geetha and Phairembam Soniya Devi qualified for the women’s kayak double 500m semi-finals, while Megha Pradeep advanced in the women’s canoe single 200m event.
In the men’s events, Harshwardhan Shaktawat, Varinder Singh, L Naocha Singh Oinam and Arun Singh qualified for Final A in the kayak four 500m. Prasanna Kumar CS and Prohit Baroi advanced to the kayak double 500m semi-finals.
Megha Pradeep and L Neha Devi also progressed to the women’s canoe double 500m semi-finals.
Meanwhile, India’s star-studded 10m air pistol contingent, including two-time Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, returned without a medal.
With Wednesday’s additions, India’s medal tally at the Asian Games 2026 stands at 12 medals — one gold, five silver and six bronze. (ANI)
