New Delhi: India enjoyed a packed and eventful Day 7 at the Asian Games 2026 on Saturday, with strong performances across kabaddi, squash, athletics, badminton, shooting, fencing, boxing, canoe sprint, table tennis and equestrian events.
The country’s medal tally stood at 30 medals, comprising four gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze medals.
The biggest success came in kabaddi, where India retained its women’s gold medal after defeating Iran in the final. The result underlined India’s continued dominance in the sport, with both the men’s and women’s teams defending their Asian Games titles, according to reports.
Squash also produced two major highlights for India as Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh reached the singles finals. Anahat secured her place in the women’s singles final, while Abhay advanced to the men’s singles final, assuring both Indian players of at least silver medals.
Earlier, Sawan Barwal gave India a strong start to the day by winning silver in the men’s marathon with a national record time of 2:11:37.
Athletics also saw Tejaswin Shankar and Thowfeeq Noushad compete in the men’s decathlon. In the 100m heat, Tejaswin finished fifth with 865 points, while Thowfeeq was seventh with 856 points.
Tejaswin later won the decathlon long jump with a 7.53m effort, while Thowfeeq finished third at 7.37m. Tejaswin stood second overall with 1,807 points, while Thowfeeq was fourth with 1,759 points.
Animesh Kujur advanced to the men’s 200m semi-final, adding another positive result for India in athletics.
In shooting, Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa Vinod and Ashi Chouksey won silver in the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions team event. In the individual final, Tilottama finished fourth and Vidarsa fifth.
Canoe sprint also saw Indian athletes progress in different events. Harshwardhan Shaktawat finished fifth in the men’s kayak single 500m semifinal and moved into Final B. Parvathy Geetha and Prasanna Kumar finished second in the mixed kayak double 500m semifinal to qualify for Final A.
India’s fencing campaign produced mixed results. The women’s foil team defeated Indonesia 45-24 in the round of 16 before losing 45-15 to South Korea in the quarterfinal. The men’s sabre team defeated the Philippines 45-27 in the round of 16 but was later beaten 45-25 by South Korea in the quarterfinal.
In squash, Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar secured a bronze medal in mixed doubles, adding to India’s strong showing in the discipline.
Badminton delivered contrasting results. Lakshya Sen lost to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew 12-21, 21-15, 14-21 in the men’s singles second round. PV Sindhu defeated Chinese Taipei’s Pin Chian Chiu to advance to the third round, while Unnati Hooda defeated Putri Kusuma Wardani to reach the quarterfinals.
Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela also progressed to the third round after defeating Japan’s Mayu Matsumoto and Yuki Fukushima. Ayush Shetty defeated Kazakhstan’s Makhsut Tajibullayev 21-7, 21-7 to reach the third round, but later exited the men’s singles competition after losing to Chou Tien Chen.
The busy badminton schedule also drew criticism during the Games, with several players, including Indian veteran HS Prannoy, raising concerns about the short turnaround between matches.
In table tennis, Yashaswini Ghorpade was beaten by Japan’s Miwa Harimoto in the women’s singles third round.
Boxing saw Kapil Pokhariya advance to the men’s 90kg quarterfinals after defeating Iran’s Sam Estaki.
India also progressed in equestrian sport, with Hriday Chheda and Jai Sud qualifying for the Dressage Individual Final.
