India’s medal tally at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya reached 23 on September 25, with two gold, nine silver and twelve bronze medals. Six of those medals came on a single day, making Friday the most productive day of the campaign so far.
The day’s headline was India’s second gold of the Games. Shooters Kamaljeet and Suruchi Singh won it in the 10m air pistol mixed team event. The pair shot 484.6 in the final. They finished 6.6 points ahead of South Korea’s Suhyeon Hong and Gaeun Choo. The South Korean pair scored 478 points and won silver. Earlier in qualification, they had set an Asian record. For Kamaljeet and Suruchi, the gold was a comeback of sorts. Both had endured disappointing individual campaigns, with Kamaljeet finishing ninth in qualification and Suruchi 26th, failing to make their respective finals. The mixed team event was India’s last chance for a medal in the 10m air pistol discipline, and they took it.
A Historic Day on the Track
The medals did not come only from the shooting range. On the athletics track, Gulveer Singh won silver in the men’s 10,000m, becoming the first Indian to win multiple medals in the event in Asian Games history. He had won bronze at Hangzhou in 2023 and upgraded it to silver in Nagoya. Baranica Elangovan won bronze in the women’s pole vault, becoming the first Indian pole vaulter to secure a podium finish in any of the three major multi-sport events. Manpreet Kaur added another bronze in the women’s shot put.
The shooting contingent continued its strong run, with Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudrankksh Patil and Niraj Kumar winning silver in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions team event. Shooting has now given India the most medals of any discipline: one gold, six silvers and four bronzes, for a total of eleven.
Medals Secured, Finals Awaiting
Beyond the medals already won, India has secured several more podium finishes, which the Asian Games officials will confirm in the coming days. Both the men’s and women’s kabaddi teams have reached the finals. The women’s team, defending champions, beat Nepal 48-24 in their semifinal, while the men’s team defeated Thailand 66-28. The women went on to win gold on Saturday, beating Iran 37-34 in a tense final.
In squash, Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar have reached the mixed doubles semifinals, while Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh have entered the last four in singles, assuring India of at least three more medals.
A Setback and a Long Road Ahead
The day was not without its disappointments. The men’s doubles badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, gold medallists at Hangzhou 2022, were knocked out in the first round. India also narrowly missed a medal in the equestrian dressage team event, finishing fourth, just 2.146 points behind Japan.
With the Games continuing until October 4, India still has opportunities in men’s cricket, hockey, badminton, and multiple athletics finals. The benchmark remains Hangzhou 2022, where India finished fourth with 106 medals. The gold count has been slower to climb this time, but the depth across disciplines tells its own story.
The Wise Take
India’s medal tally is not just a number. It is a record of where the country is investing, and where the returns are coming from. Shooting has delivered eleven medals so far, more than any other discipline. Athletics has produced five, including two historic firsts. The kabaddi teams, both men’s and women’s, are in the finals. The medals are coming from the pipeline that has been built over the last decade, from grassroots scouting to high-performance training. There will be disappointments, and there will be days when the gold count does not move. But the spread of medals across disciplines is a more meaningful indicator than any single day’s haul. The Games are not over, and the tally is still being written.
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