NEW DELHI: India enjoyed one of its most productive days at the Asian Games 2026 on Saturday, winning seven medals with the kabaddi teams providing the biggest highlights by successfully defending their respective gold medals. The men defeated Iran 40-34 in a hard-fought final, while the women also overcame Iran 37-34 to complete a memorable kabaddi gold double for India. The men's triumph was their ninth Asian Games gold in the sport, while the women's victory brought their tally to four. India's seven-medal haul also included a historic silver for marathon runner Sawan Barwal, silver medals for Tajinderpal Singh Toor and the women's 50m rifle 3 positions team, and bronze medals for Prachi Choudhary in the women's 400m and Joshna Chinappa-Velavan Senthilkumar in squash. The day's results took India's overall medal tally to 30 — four gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze.
Barwal delivers historic marathon silver
The day began with one of India's biggest surprises when Sawan Barwal produced a stunning run to win silver in the men's marathon and break his own national record. The 28-year-old Armyman from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, completed the 42.195km race in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 37 seconds to finish behind Japan's Ichitaka Yamashita, who won gold in 2:10:49. China's Peiyou Feng took bronze in 2:12:13. Barwal's silver was India's first Asian Games marathon medal since Hosur Kukkappa Seetharan's bronze in the 1982 edition in New Delhi. He also became only the fourth Indian marathon runner to win an Asian Games medal. Chhota Singh had won gold and Surat Singh Mathur bronze at the inaugural Asian Games in 1951, while Seetharan's bronze came three decades later.
Kabaddi teams maintain their grip on gold
India's kabaddi campaign once again ended with both teams on top of the podium, although neither final was straightforward. The women held their nerve to beat Iran 37-34, while the men recovered from a closely fought first half to defeat the same opponents 40-34. The men's gold was India's ninth in the sport at the Asian Games, underlining their long-standing dominance, while the women's team retained the title they had won at Hangzhou. The two victories accounted for India's only gold medals of the day and provided a major boost to the country's medal count.
Shooting and athletics add three more medals
At the shooting range, Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa Vinod and Ashi Chouksey won silver in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions team event. The Indian trio aggregated 1763 points to finish behind China, who set a Games Record of 1773 for gold. Kazakhstan took bronze with 1754. Tilottama and Vidarsa also reached the individual final but narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. In athletics, Prachi Choudhary added a bronze in the women's 400m, clocking 53.21 seconds. Bahrain's Salwa Naser won gold in a Games Record 49.20 seconds, while Iran's Zahra Zarei Manoujan took silver in 52.38 seconds. There was disappointment too, as two-time defending champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor had to settle for silver in the men's shot put. His 20.64m throw was well below his personal best of 21.77m. Iran's Mohammadreza Tayebise won gold with a Games Record 20.81m, breaking Toor's previous Games mark of 20.75m.
Anahat, Abhay keep squash gold hopes alive
India's squash campaign received a major boost as Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh stormed into their respective singles finals. The 18-year-old Anahat produced one of the biggest wins of her career, coming from 0-2 down to stun world No. 6 Satomi Watanabe of Japan 9-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-6, 11-3. Abhay followed by sweeping Pakistan's Muhammad Irfan 11-3, 12-10, 11-6 to reach the men's final. A gold for either player would also bring the prospect of qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where squash will make its debut. Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar had earlier secured India's bronze in mixed doubles after losing 1-2 to Hong Kong's Tang Ming Hong and Lee Ka Yi.
Hockey, archery provide further positives
The men's hockey team reached the semifinals after beating Japan 2-0 in its penultimate pool match. India also made a strong start to its archery campaign. Dhiraj Bommadevara topped the men's recurve individual qualification with 698 points, setting a new Asian Games qualification record. Chikitha Taniparthi topped the women's compound qualification with 705 points. India also finished first in compound mixed team qualification.
Mixed fortunes in badminton and table tennis
Young shuttler Unnati Hooda produced one of India's standout performances in badminton, winning two matches to reach the women's singles quarterfinals. The 19-year-old first defeated Malaysia's Ling Ching Wong 21-14, 20-22, 21-19 before stunning world No. 6 Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia 21-19, 21-13. She will face Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the quarterfinals. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also advanced after beating Japan's world No. 3 pair Mayu Matsumoto and Yuki Fukushima 24-22, 21-18. However, Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty were knocked out. India's table tennis campaign ended without further medals after Manush Shah and Yashaswini Ghorpade lost their respective singles pre-quarterfinals. India finished with one TT medal — the mixed doubles bronze won by Manush and Diya Chitale. The day also brought limited returns in esports, fencing and canoeing.
