Asiads Action: Shooters hit gold, runner Gulveer strikes silver

Baranica Elangovan scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win a pole vault medal at the Asian Games, clinching a bronze.

Nagoya: Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet ended an unusually long wait for a shooting gold, and long-distance runner Gulveer Singh sparkled with his 10,000 m silver, while Baranica Elangovan scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win a pole vault medal at the Asian Games, clinching a bronze on Friday, September 25.

But the first-round exit of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty from the badminton men’s doubles event came as a setback for India at the Asian Games here on Friday, September 25.

Suruchi and Kamaljeet combined for a score of 484.6, a Games and Asian record, to dominate the field from start to finish en route to the gold. The 19-year-old Suruchi contributed 245.7, and Kamaljeet added 238.9 points to the overall tally.

The performance lifted the sagging morale of India’s shooting contingent that had been battling with the disappointment of not striking gold in the 10 m air rifle and ending without a single medal in the individual, men’s and women’s team 10 m air pistol competitions.

Their gold could prove to be the catalyst for an improved shooting performance in the remainder of the competition.

The ranges also threw up a silver thanks to the men’s 50 m rifle 3-position team of Aishwary Pratap Singh, Rudrankksh Patil, and Niraj Kumar. They looked on course for gold for much of the competition, only for China to finish strongly and deny them the top step. India finished with an aggregate of 1762, four points behind China’s 1766.

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Silver in track and field

In track and field, Gulveer improved on the bronze he won in the 2023 Hangzhou edition to a silver, clocking 28:29.38 seconds in a trademark-assured run.

Athletes compete in a track race, one runner bent over on the track, another in the foreground preparing.

Gulveer Singh, back, celebrates after winning a silver medal in the men’s 10,000m race on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026.

With bronze medals from shot-putter Manpreet Kaur and the mixed table tennis team of Diya Chitale and Manush Shah also added to the tally, India’s total increased to 22 medals.

For Manpreet, this was her first major international medal since 2023. She took third place with an effort of 17.17 m.

Aishwary and Niraj also made it to the individual final, in third and fourth positions, respectively, but could not fetch medals.

Baranica Elangovan competes in the women’s pole vault event during the 20th Asian Games, in Nagoya, Japan, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. 

Baranica Elangovan won the bronze in the women’s pole vault event, entering her name in the record books as it was India’s first-ever medal in the pole vault event.

Women’s hockey seals semifinal berth

The women’s hockey team, on the other hand, remained in firm control and continued its unbeaten run, beating hosts Japan 3-1 to virtually seal a semifinal berth.

While the shooting campaign picked up, the badminton court gave India the biggest shock of the day as former world No. 1 and two-time world championship bronze medallists Satwik and Chirag made a shocking early exit from the competition they were expected to dominate.

In a gruelling three-game match against Thailand’s Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun, the Indians lost 21-12, 19-21, 14-21 in a one-hour-eight-minute contest.

“It’s the mental part. Whenever we are mentally free, I think no one can beat us. But when we are stuck anywhere, we give opponents a chance to beat us,” Satwik said later, trying to explain the defeat but without managing to come up with a definitive answer.

Their loss aside, India had lots to celebrate in other events, with two golds in Kabaddi within touching distance after both the men’s and women’s teams stormed into the finals with wins over Thailand and Nepal, respectively.

In the table tennis competition, Manush Shah and Diya Chitale claimed the mixed doubles bronze. They lost 0-4 to the Chinese pair of Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin in the last four stage.

At the squash courts, Indian players assured themselves of three medals as Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar entered the mixed doubles semifinals, while Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh advanced to the last four in singles.

Joshna, playing in a record seventh Asian Games, and Senthilkumar began the winning spree with an 11-3, 11-5 victory over the Philippines’ David Pelino and Jemyca Aribado in the mixed doubles quarterfinals.

India’s first ever junior world champion and medal favourite Anahat breezed past compatriot Tanvi Khanna 11-2, 11-5, 11-3 in the women’s singles quarterfinals to stay on course for a coveted Olympic berth.

Anahat will next face the world No. 6 Satomi Watanabe, a bronze medallist from Hangzhou.

Abhay, meanwhile, dispatched local favourite Ryonosuke Tsukue 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 to set up a semifinal clash with Pakistan’s Irfan Muhammad, who got the better of Veer Chotrani. The men’s and women’s singles gold winners will directly qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where squash is set to make its debut.

The heartbreak of Satwik and Chirag’s ouster notwithstanding, there were some good results for India in badminton.

In women’s doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand had to work hard to advance, overcoming Hong Kong’s Hiu Yan Tsang and Lok Lok Lui 21-16 16-21 21-16 in an intense three-game battle.

The mixed pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila advanced to the quarterfinals with back-to-back wins.

They began with a comfortable 21-8, 21-7 win over Maldives’ Nibal Ahmed and Aminath Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq and followed it up with a hard-fought 22-20, 24-22 victory over Malaysia’s Shevon Jemie Lai and Soon Huat Goh to enter the quarterfinals.

In the boxing arena, Sachin Siwach moved to the men’s 60 kg quarterfinals with a scrappy 4-1 win over Jordan’s Mohammad Adnan Abu Jajeh. However, it was curtains for last edition’s bronze-medallist Preeti Pawar.

The Commonwealth Games gold medallist, who received a first round bye, went down 0-5 to North Korea’s reigning Asian Games champion Pang Chol M in the women’s 54 kg round of 16.