NEW DELHI: India produced a stunning medal rush on Day 2 of the Asian Para Games 2026, collecting 24 medals, including five golds, as athletics powered the country's campaign in Aichi-Nagoya on Tuesday. Nishad Kumar headlined the action with a second gold in as many days, while Deepthi Jeevanji reaffirmed her continental supremacy with a Games-record triumph. At the end of the day's competition, India occupied sixth place in the standings with 35 medals — nine gold, 11 silver and 15 bronze. Athletics accounted for 20 of India's medals so far, underlining its importance to the country's campaign. Alongside the established stars, emerging athletes also delivered encouraging performances, while archery and badminton provided further reasons for optimism by assuring India of more medals in the coming days.
Nishad, Deepthi lead India's golden charge
Nishad became only the third Indian to win two gold medals in a single edition of the Asian Para Games after adding the men's high jump T47 title to his long jump gold from Monday. The two-time Paralympic silver medallist cleared 2.04m to establish a new Games record. He joined Ankur Dhama and armless archer Sheetal Devi, who had each won two golds at the 2023 Hangzhou edition. Deepthi set the tone early, winning the women's 400m T20 title in a Games-record time of 56.36 seconds. The 23-year-old from Telangana, a former world champion and Paris Paralympics bronze medallist, secured her second consecutive Asian Para Games gold in the event. The golden run continued with Simran winning the women's 200m T12 title in a Games-record 24.80 seconds. Despite struggling with fatigue and limited vegetarian food options, the Paralympic bronze medallist delivered a commanding performance. Games debutant Tejalben Damor added bronze in the same event with a personal-best 25.23 seconds. Pranav Soorma claimed gold in the men's discus throw combined F51/52/53 event with an Asian-record effort of 11.66m, while compatriot Ram Ratan Singh took silver with 10.35m. Devender Kumar completed India's five-gold haul for the day by winning the men's discus throw F44/64 event.
Shooting, powerlifting and swimming add to the haul
India collected two medals in shooting, with Manish Narwal winning silver in the men's 10m air pistol SH1 event and Shrishti Arora taking bronze in the women's 10m air pistol SH1 competition. Narwal, a Paris 2024 Paralympics silver medallist, shot 233.7 in the final to finish behind South Korea's Jo Jeongdu. His performance also secured India a quota place for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics. India's shooting tally rose to four medals after two days, comprising one gold, two silver and one bronze. In powerlifting, Ashok Kumar Malik won silver in the men's 65kg category with a best lift of 192kg. The 37-year-old from Haryana improved on the bronze he won at the previous edition. Swimming contributed two more bronze medals. Himanshu Nandal, who was born blind due to optic nerve failure, clocked 5:10.91 to finish third in the men's 400m freestyle S11 event. Niranjan Mukundan followed with bronze in the men's 200m individual medley SM7, finishing in 2:57.01. Para table tennis also delivered a landmark performance. Ravi Baby Sahana and Prachi Pandey became the first Indian players to win medals in the standing category at the Asian Para Games. They were joined on the podium by Paralympics medallist Bhavina Patel, Sonalben Patel and Jehan Madan, taking India's haul to five bronze medals in the competition. Bhavina lost to China's Zhang Bian in the Class 4-5 semifinal, while Sonalben went down to South Korea's Jiyu Yoon in Class 3. Sahana lost to China's Mao Jingdian in Class 9, and Prachi was beaten by Iraq's Najlah Al-Dayyeni in Class 6.
Archery assures five medals; badminton stars reach last four
India's medal tally is set to grow further, with para archery assuring the country of at least five medals through finalists across individual, doubles and mixed-team events. Defending champion Sheetal Devi stormed into the women's compound final after defeating Japan's Shinohara Aya 145-137. Sheetal, who equalled the world record and set a new Asian record in qualification, will face Singapore's Alim Nur Syahidah for gold. Games debutant Swati Chaudhary also assured India of at least silver after beating South Korea's Eunhee Lee 6-2 in the women's W1 semifinal. India's women's compound doubles pair of Sheetal and Payal Nag defeated Thailand's Phannibha Srathongmaew and Wasana Khuthawisap 151-135 to reach the gold-medal match. Pooja and Bhawna advanced to the women's recurve doubles final with a 6-2 win over Iran's Mohadeseh Babahabib and Rahimi Ghahderijani Somayeh. Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi also progressed to the men's recurve doubles final after edging South Korea 5-4.
The recurve mixed team of Harvinder and Bhawna defeated Thailand 6-0 to reach the semifinals, while Sheetal and Toman Kumar advanced in compound mixed team after beating Japan 154-147. Badminton also guaranteed India more medals. World champion Pramod Bhagat defeated Japan's Daisuke Fujihara 21-12, 21-10 to reach the men's singles SL3 semifinals, extending his record of podium finishes at the Para Asiad to five consecutive editions. He will face South Korea's Lee Seunghu on Thursday. Paralympic gold medallist Kumar Nitesh also advanced to the last four after beating compatriot Vikram Kumar 21-8, 21-8. He will meet Indonesia's Al Muh Imran in the semifinal. With five golds already secured on Tuesday and more medals assured in archery and badminton, India ended Day 2 with momentum firmly on their side as the campaign gathered pace in Aichi-Nagoya.
