India jumped to the fifth spot in the Asian Games 2026 medal tally with as many as six gold medals on Friday (October 2). The Indian contingent kicked
off the penultimate day kick off with the women's recurve team clinching a historic gold. Lovlina Borgohain, Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal won three back-to-back gold medals in boxing. Wrestler Sujeet Kalkal did the unthinkable and made a remarkable comeback to win a gold in the men's freestyle 65 kg final. The day capped off with the Indian women's hockey team defeating China 1-0 in the final to win its first gold medal since 1982. India have now clinched 76 medals. The tally includes 16 gold, 25 silver and 35 bronze medals. The ongoing edition has been the one for debutants, with 83 out of 310 athletes making their Asian Games debut. 43 of them are women. The 2026 Asian Games has also been marked by several historic firsts. Mirabai Chanu ended her wait for an Asiad medal. The Indian legend won a silver in the 49kg weightlifting final. Suchika Tariyal created history and etched her name in record books by becoming the first-ever Indian to win an Asian Games medal (bronze) in MMA. Representing India in soft tennis, Jay Meena also won the country's first medal (bronze). Historic achievements Shafali Verma became the first-ever Indian to hit a century in the Asian Games. She achieved the milestone in the semi-final against Bangladesh. Sunil Kumar, who represented India in Greco-Roman wrestling, became first Indian to secure two consecutive podium finished as the Asiad. Nitesh Kumar also made a mark in Greco-Roman wrestling and became the first Indian in this century to qualify for the final. He won a silver medal. India can add two more gold medals to their tally on Saturday (October 3) when the cricket and hockey teams take the field against Pakistan and Malaysia, respectively. China top the medal tally with 162 gold, 81 silver and 73 bronze medals.
