India signed off from the 2026 Asian Games on a memorable note as the men's team clinched the gold medal in the hockey final. India defeated Malaysia 5-1
to win the gold and punch their ticket to the 2028 LA Olympics. Earlier in the day, the Indian men's cricket team also made the country proud by winning the gold medal by defeating arch-rivals in the final. The Indian women's hockey and cricket teams also won gold medals. Following India's successful Asian Games campaign Ahhinav Bindra shared a special post for Team India. He also sent a reminder to the athletes about the LA Olympics. "Congratulations to every Indian athlete and to Team India on the Asian Games. A Games campaign is never just the few days we see on television. It is years of early mornings, injuries, doubts, missed occasions and countless hours of work. So first and foremost, enormous respect to our athletes and also to their families who live this journey with them and make sacrifices that are rarely seen. To the coaches, support staff, federations, SAI, the Government and everyone working behind the scenes, THANK YOU!" Bindra wrote on X. "There have been some terrific breakthrough performances at these Games. Young athletes have announced themselves, others have stepped up to a new level and there have been moments that give us a lot to be excited about. There have also been disappointments. That is sport and every Games will have them. What matters now is how honestly we learn from them. High performance cannot only be about reacting when an athlete is close to a medal. We have to keep building systems that understand the athlete over several years. Systems that spot gaps early, use science and data intelligently, get coaching and competition planning right, manage training load and recovery, reduce preventable injuries and build athletes who are physically and mentally resilient when the pressure is greatest. Most importantly, the right expertise has to reach the athlete at the right stage of their career, not when it is already too late," he added.
Bindra further wrote that two years isn't a long time in Olympic sport and asked the athletes to learn from Asiad and keep moving forward.
"LA is less than two years away. In Olympic sport that is not a long time. The athletes who will stand on the podium there are already deep into their preparation today. So this is the moment to celebrate what went well, be honest about what did not and get back to work with urgency and purpose. Congratulations again to our athletes and to everyone who stood behind them. Be proud of what has been achieved. Learn from these Games and keep moving forward. Wishing Team India everything good on the road to LA," he further wrote.
India's medals at Asian Games
India won 85 medals at the Asian Games. The tally included 21 gold, 27 silver and 38 bronze medals. India finished fourth in the points table, behind China, Japan and South Korea.
Fifth-placed Uzbekistan also finished with 21 gold medals. Since India won more silver than Uzbekistan (25), they were placed ahead of them.
