India produced a stunning six-gold haul on the penultimate day of the Asian Games on Friday, with the women's hockey team, three boxers, archers and wrestler Sujeet Kalkal leading a late surge that took the country into the top five of the medal table. India moved to fifth place with 76 medals - 16 gold, 25 silver and 35 bronze. India have more medals than fourth-placed Uzbekistan, who have 65, but trail them by four gold medals. The strong showing on Friday has given India's campaign a major boost after a mixed run earlier in the Games.
Hockey ends 44-year wait
The biggest moment came in women's hockey as India beat defending champions China 1-0 to win their first Asian Games gold in the sport since 1982. Lalremsiami scored the only goal of the final with a superb reverse-stick strike in the 10th minute. But the goal was only the beginning of India's challenge as China kept pushing for an equaliser. Goalkeeper Bichu Devi and the Indian defence stood firm through long periods of pressure. The players repeatedly put their bodies on the line to protect their one-goal advantage. The victory also gave India direct qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, one of the key targets for coach Sjoerd Marijne's side. The final started an hour late after the team buses of both finalists were caught in a traffic jam caused by an accident unrelated to either team. Once the match began, India struck early and then held on brilliantly.
Three boxing golds
Indian boxing enjoyed its most successful Asian Games in terms of gold medals, with Lovlina Borgohain, Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal all finishing on top. Lovlina celebrated her 29th birthday with a 5-0 win over China's Ziyi Bao in the women's 75kg final. She improved on the silver medal she won at the previous edition. Parveen then edged Chinese Taipei's Paris Olympic bronze-medallist Chen Nien-chin 3-2 in a split decision to win the women's 65kg gold. Ankush completed the golden hat-trick with a win over his opponent in the men's 80kg final. He became the first Indian male boxer since Amit Panghal in 2018 to win Asian Games gold. The three golds took India's boxing tally to six medals. Priya Ghanghas (60kg), Kapil Pokhariya (90kg) and Narender Berwal (+90kg) also won bronze medals. India's previous best overall boxing haul at the Asian Games came at Guangzhou 2010, when the team won nine medals - two gold, three silver and four bronze. Lovlina and Parveen also joined MC Mary Kom as Indian women boxers who have won Asian Games gold.
Sujeet stages stunning comeback
Wrestler Sujeet Kalkal produced one of the biggest comebacks of the Games to win gold in the men's 65kg category. His campaign began with a 13-3 technical superiority win over Afghanistan's Sayed Omar Zazai. He then beat Iran's Abbas Ebrahimzadehsavadkouhi by technical superiority without conceding a point. In the semifinal, Sujeet faced Japan's Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka and won 3-3 on criteria. The final against Tajikistan's Abdulmazhid Kudiev looked to be slipping away when Sujeet fell 2-9 behind. But the Indian wrestler refused to give up. Using his speed and technique, he scored eight points in a row to turn the contest around. Sujeet first cut the deficit to 8-9 before producing a decisive takedown with around 20 seconds left. He then defended his lead to win 10-9 and claim the gold.
Historic gold for women's recurve team
India's women's recurve archery team started the day's gold rush by beating 10-time Olympic champions South Korea 5-3 in the final. Ankita Bhakat, Kirti Sharma and 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod kept their composure in difficult windy conditions to register a historic win. The result gave India their maiden Asian Games gold in the women's recurve team event. Kumkum returned to the range later in the day and teamed up with Dhiraj Bommadevara to win silver in the mixed recurve team event. They lost 3-5 to China in the final.
The men's recurve team of Bommadevara, Sanjay Bhoge and Neeraj Chauhan also finished with silver after a 1-5 loss to South Korea. India have now won seven archery medals at these Games — four gold, two silver and one bronze. The compound archers had earlier completed a clean sweep of the team gold medals.
More medals add to India's haul
India also picked up medals in sailing and sepaktakraw on a highly productive day. Nethra Kumanan won bronze in the women's dinghy event, while Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma secured bronze in the women's skiff. The men's quadrant team won a bronze medal in sepaktakraw. India's six gold medals on Friday have lifted the country to fifth in the standings and provided a strong push towards the closing stages of the Asian Games.
