The Indian women’s cricket team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, won India’s first gold medal at the on-going 2026 Asian Games at Aichi and Nagoya.
The women in blue defeated Sri Lanka in an one-sided affair by 147 runs, less than a month after beating them in the women’s Asia Cup 2026 in Dubai. This result remained the highlight for India in an overall disappointing day three.
Harmanpreet Kaur and co posted 216 runs on the board before bowling Sri Lanka out for just 69 at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin. A similar outing for the men’s team is also expected when they begin their Asian Games campaign in the quarter-finals on Monday, September 28.
Despite the success in cricket, India had a few tough results across several disciplines.
In Soft Tennis women’s singles, Aadhya Tiwari went down against Thailand’s Alisha Ziegler by 4-1 in her Group D opener with scores of 4-1, 0-4, 0-4, 2-4 and 4-6. She will be hoping to bounce back in her second group game against Pakistan.
Debutant Langlentombi Devi Hanjabam also crashed out of the Asian Games after finishing ninth in women’s Nanquan and Nandao Wushu final with a score of 9.403. India also lost to Malaysia 3-0 in Sepaktakraw in their second group game and their upcoming game against Philippines tomorrow will be a must win one.
There were hopes of a bronze medal in men’s Kumite 84kg Karate but debutant Chetan Bhatt lost to Chinese Taipei’s Meng-yu Chung by Senshu as the bout ended at 1-1. Senshu is awarded to the one who scores the first point of the match. In Soft Tennis men’s singles, Jay Meena crushed Pakistan’s Hussain Arain 4-0 to reach the quarter-finals.
Rishabh Das, Rohit Benediction, Danush Suresh and Akash Mani entered the men’s 4x100m medley relay after clocking 3:40.41 and finishing seventh overall in the heats. The biggest setback came from shooting today as the pair of Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane missed out on a podium finish by finishing fourth in the 10m Air Rifle mixed team final with a combined score of 376.3.
Valarivan previously won silver in individual and women’s team events over the last two days. Commonwealth Games 2026 gold medallist Sakshi Chaudhary reached the Round of 16 after beating Philippines’ Aira Villegas in women’s 51kg Round of 32.
In men’s hockey, the Indian team thrashed Sri Lanka 16-1 in their second Pool A game while the women’s Table Tennis team lost to DPR Korea by 3-0 and exited the Asian Games 2026. Gymnast Pranati Nayak also qualified for the finals of women’s vault after finishing seventh with a score of 12.916.
Roshibina Devi also confirmed a medal in women’s 60kg sanda Wushu after beating Macau China’s Man Sin Chu in the semis.
India’s position in the medal tally
The women’s cricket team’s gold medal helped India go 8th in the medal tally.
| Rank | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | China | 32 | 13 | 8 | 53 |
| 2 | Japan | 11 | 16 | 19 | 46 |
| 3 | Korea | 6 | 4 | 17 | 27 |
| 4 | Kazakhstan | 6 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
| 5 | Thailand | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 6 | Hong Kong | 3 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
| 7 | Tajikistan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | India | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| 9 | Uzbekistan | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 10 | Chinese Taipei | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| 11 | Iran | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 11 | Singapore | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 13 | Macao, China | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 14 | Jordan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 14 | Myanmar | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 16 | Malaysia | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 16 | Vietnam | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 18 | Kuwait | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 19 | Bahrain | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 20 | Indonesia | 0 | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| 21 | Philippines | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 22 | Iraq | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 23 | Lebanon | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 23 | Qatar | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 25 | Afghanistan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | Sri Lanka | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | Turkmenistan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 28 | Cambodia | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 29 | Kyrgyzstan | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 30 | Saudi Arabia | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 30 | Pakistan | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 32 | Brunei Darussalam | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 32 | Mongolia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 32 | Syria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |