India collected six medals on October 1 at the Asian Games, adding three silver and three bronze to its tally. The men’s hockey and cricket teams both reached the gold-medal matches after big wins. While many athletes got medals, others fell short in tough bouts during a busy day.
India’s day at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya was marked by medals, narrow misses and two major team-sport breakthroughs. The Indian contingent collected six confirmed medals, three silver and three bronze, while also assuring itself of another medal in men’s sepaktakraw.
The day began with India adding to its medal haul in archery before wrestling, sailing, and squash brought more medals. There was disappointment too, with several athletes falling short in medal bouts and others seeing their campaigns end in the knockout stages.
ASIAN GAMES LIVE: OCT 1 UPDATES | MEDAL TABLE
But the biggest celebrations came in the afternoon and evening, as India’s men’s hockey and cricket teams both booked their places in the gold-medal matches. The hockey team edged Pakistan 4-3 in a thrilling semi-final, while the cricket team produced a dominant 124-run win over Sri Lanka to set up a final against Pakistan.
WRESTLING, SAILING LEAD THE WAY
Nitesh Siwach produced one of India’s standout performances of the day, winning silver in the men’s Greco-Roman 97kg category after losing 0-4 to Japan’s Yuri Nakazato in the gold-medal bout. Nitesh had earlier defeated Turkmenistan’s Amanberdi Agamammedov 7-1 in the quarter-finals before overpowering Mongolia’s Gankhuyag Ganbaatar 9-0 in the semi-final.
The wrestling silver was followed by another runner-up finish in sailing. Manu Francis and Prince Kurusinkal Noble won silver in the men’s skiff, giving India another medal on the water and adding to a productive campaign for the country’s sailors.
India then picked up a second sailing medal, with Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma finishing third in the women’s skiff to win bronze. The Indian pair finished with 28 points, behind Japan and Hong Kong, China.
The squash teams also made their presence felt. India’s women’s team won bronze after losing 1-2 to Hong Kong, China, in the semi-final, while the men’s team secured bronze following their 1-2 defeat to Malaysia.
In compound archery, Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru won bronze in the men’s individual event after reaching the semi-final stage.
India also assured itself of another medal in men’s sepaktakraw, with the quadrant team progressing to the semi-finals. That took India’s confirmed medal haul for the day to six, with another medal guaranteed.
BRONZE-MEDAL BOUTS BRING HEARTBREAK
Alongside the celebrations came several painful exits. Mansi Ahlawat lost her women’s 62kg bronze-medal bout, ending her hopes of finishing on the podium. She went down 5-2 to Mongolia’s Altjin Togtokh in the medal contest.
Judo brought more disappointment, with Inunganbi Takhellambam losing the women’s 70kg bronze-medal bout, while Yamini Mourya’s campaign ended in the repechage.
Cycling’s Harshita Jakhar and Swasti Singh were unable to complete the women’s Madison final, ending their medal hopes. In shooting, Anish Bhanwala finished seventh in the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol final.
India’s rugby campaign also ended with defeats to Hong Kong, China and China. The men’s volleyball team suffered a quarter-final defeat to Pakistan, while wrestlers Aman and Sumit were knocked out in the Greco-Roman 77kg and 60kg categories respectively.
There was also disappointment in compound archery, where Chikitha Taniparthi lost her women’s individual quarter-final. Sport climber Deepu Mallesh failed to progress from the men’s speed 4 stage, while cyclists Keerthi Rangaswamy Chikka and Celestina were eliminated in the women’s sprint 1/16 eliminations.
Canoe slalom athlete Shikha Chouhan finished seventh in the women’s kayak single final. In golf, however, India remained in medal contention, with Pranavi Sharath Urs second after Round 2. Diksha Dagar and Aditi Ashok were 21st and 25th respectively, while Saptak Talwar was seventh in the men’s competition, followed by Veer Ahlawat in 16th and Yuvraj Sandhu in 22nd.
TENNIS MEDAL RUN ENDS AS SUMIT NAGAL BOWS OUT
India’s tennis campaign ended without a medal after Sumit Nagal lost 4-6, 4-6 to China’s Yibing Wu in the men’s singles quarter-final on Thursday. The seventh-seeded Indian’s defeat, which came in one hour and 38 minutes, ended India’s last remaining medal hope in the sport.
Nagal had reached the last eight after beating South Korea’s Hong Seong-chan 6-4, 6-0 and Uzbekistan’s Sergey Fomin 6-3, 6-2. Dhakshineswar Suresh also reached the third round, beating Indonesia’s Gunawan Trismuwantara before losing to Chinese Taipei’s sixth seed Tseng Chun-hsin.
India’s two men’s doubles pairs also reached the quarter-finals but failed to progress. Yuki Bhambri and Dhakshineswar Suresh lost to Chinese Taipei’s Chenjui Ho and Yu-Hsiou Hsu, while N Sriram Balaji and Anirudh Chandrasekar went down to China’s Jiang Fumin and Zhang Tianhui in a deciding match tie-break.
In women’s doubles, Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale lost in the opening round, while both Indian mixed-doubles combinations were eliminated before the medal rounds.
The result ended India’s tennis medal run at the Asian Games for the first time since 1986, after the country had won at least one medal at every edition since 1990.
HOCKEY, CRICKET DELIVER TWO MASSIVE FINAL BERTHS
The biggest moments of India’s day came in the team events, with both the men’s hockey and cricket teams reaching their respective finals.
The hockey team produced a dramatic 4-3 win over Pakistan in the semi-final. India appeared to be cruising after building a 3-0 lead, but Pakistan fought back to level the contest and put the defending champions under serious pressure.
With the match heading towards a tense finish, Abhishek scored the decisive goal with just 45 seconds remaining, sending India into the gold-medal match. Harmanpreet Singh had earlier contributed two goals, while Sukhjeet Singh also found the net.
Cricket provided an equally emphatic result, although there was far less drama. India crushed Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the men’s T20 semi-final after posting 169 for 7.
Ishan Kishan was the star with the bat, smashing an unbeaten 80 from 46 balls, while 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi contributed 38 on his debut. India’s bowlers then tore through Sri Lanka, dismissing them for just 45 in 9.5 overs. Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel and Abhishek Sharma took two wickets each.
The victory set up an India-Pakistan gold-medal clash in men’s cricket, while the hockey team also moved into the title match. With six medals confirmed, another assured in sepaktakraw and two major finals secured, India ended October 1 with plenty still to play for in Aichi-Nagoya.
Here’s how the Indian contingent performed on October 1 at Asian Games 2026
MEDAL WINNERS
Silver
Wrestling: Nitesh Siwach — silver in men’s Greco-Roman 97kg
Sailing: Manu Francis and Prince Kurusinkal — silver in men’s skiff
Sailing: Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma - bronze in women’s skiff
Bronze
Squash: India men’s team — bronze
Squash: India women’s team — bronze
Archery: Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru — bronze in compound men’s individual
CONFIRMED MEDAL
Sepaktakraw: India men’s quadrant team — confirmed medal after reaching the semi-finals
IN MEDAL CONTENTION
Hockey: India men’s team — into the final after beating Pakistan.
Cricket: India men’s team — into the final after beating Sri Lanka.
Golf: Pranavi Sharath Urs — 2nd after Round 2; Diksha Dagar T21, Aditi Ashok T25.
Golf: Saptak Talwar — 7th; Veer Ahlawat 16th; Yuvraj Sandhu 22nd after Round 2
NO MEDALS
Wrestling: Mansi Ahlawat lost the women’s 62kg bronze-medal bout.
Canoe Slalom: Shikha Chaouhan — 7th in women’s kayak single final.
Judo: Inunganbi Takhellambam lost the women’s 70kg bronze-medal bout.
Cycling: Harshita Jakhar and Swasti Singh — DNF in women’s madison final.
Shooting: Anish Bhanwala — 7th in men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol final.
Rugby Sevens: India lost to Hong Kong 7-33 and China 5-43.
Tennis: Sumit Nagal lost in men’s singles quarter-finals.
Judo: Yamini Mourya lost in repechage.
Volleyball: India lost to Pakistan in men’s quarter-finals.
Wrestling: Aman — lost in Greco-Roman 77kg quarter-finals.
Wrestling: Sumit — lost in Greco-Roman 60kg quarter-finals.
Sport Climbing: Deepu Mallesh — failed to qualify for men’s speed 4 quarter-finals.
Archery: Chikitha Taniparthi — lost in compound women’s individual quarter-finals.
Cycling: Keerthi Rangaswamy Chikka and Celestina — eliminated in women’s sprint 1/16 eliminations.
Taekwondo: Rupa Bayor — eliminated in women’s individual poomsae semi-finals.