India Continues Strong Asian Games Run with Shooting Gold, Hockey Win and Kabaddi Final Berth

Indian shooters Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet delivered a commanding performance to secure the gold medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Friday, making a strong comeback after disappointing campaigns in their respective individual competitions.
The Indian pair topped the final with a combined score of 484.6, comfortably ahead of South Korea’s Suhyeon Hong and Gaeun Choo, who finished second with 478.0. The 6.6-point margin highlighted the dominance of the Indian shooters throughout the contest. Iran claimed the bronze medal with 415.8 points.
India also added a silver medal in shooting through the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions team event. The trio of Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudrankksh Patil and Niraj Kumar registered a total score of 1762 to finish second. China secured the gold medal with 1766, while South Korea took bronze with 1751.
In the individual qualification round of the same event, Tomar scored 589 and Niraj Kumar posted 588 to qualify for the final in third and fourth positions respectively. Although Rudrankksh Patil produced a strong effort, he could not advance because only two shooters from a country are permitted in the individual final.
Elsewhere, Indian boxer Sachin Siwach moved into the men’s 60kg quarterfinals after defeating Jordan’s Mohammad Adnan Abu Jajeh through a split decision. Sachin, who had received a first-round bye, started aggressively before the bout evolved into a tactical contest. Despite a strong challenge from the Jordanian boxer in the final round, the Indian did enough to secure victory and move one win away from a medal.
The Indian women’s hockey team continued its impressive form by defeating hosts Japan 3-1 for a fourth consecutive victory, virtually confirming a place in the semifinals. Goals from Lalremsiami, Ishika Chaudhary and Navneet Kaur guided India to victory, while Shiho Kobayakawa scored Japan’s lone goal. India will conclude its Pool B campaign against Singapore on Sunday.
Indian badminton players also made a positive start to their campaigns. Unnati Hooda defeated North Korea’s Mi Song Yu 21-9, 21-10 to reach the second round of the women’s singles event. In mixed doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila beat Maldives’ Nibal Ahmed and Aminath Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq 21-8, 21-7 to progress comfortably.
In kabaddi, the Indian women’s team stormed into the final with a comprehensive 48-24 victory over Nepal. The defending champions maintained their unbeaten record in the tournament and stayed on course for a fourth successive Asian Games gold medal.
India’s esports team, however, endured a difficult start in the Pokemon UNITE competition, suffering a 0-2 defeat to South Korea in its opening Group C match. The team will face Japan in its next fixture.
There was disappointment in fencing as both the men’s foil team and women’s epee team exited in the round of 16. The men lost 27-45 to Hong Kong, while the women went down 29-45 against Uzbekistan.
Swimming brought encouraging results for India with Sajan Prakash, Rishabh Das and Utkarsh Patil advancing to finals in their respective events. Competing in his final Asian Games, Prakash qualified sixth for the men’s 200m butterfly final with a time of 2:00.94. Das and Patil progressed to the 200m backstroke final, finishing fourth and ninth overall respectively in the heats.
India also assured itself of medals in table tennis and squash. Manush Shah and Diya Chitale stunned Hong Kong’s world No. 4 pair Doo Hoi Kem and Wong Chun Ting 3-1 in the mixed doubles quarterfinals to secure a semifinal berth and guarantee India’s first table tennis medal of the ongoing Games.
In squash, veteran Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar booked a place in the mixed doubles semifinals with a convincing 11-3, 11-5 win over Philippines pair David Pelino and Jemyca Aribado, ensuring at least a bronze medal.
Surfing also made its Asian Games debut, with Indian surfers Sugar Shanti Gayen and Kamali Prakash finishing last in their respective women’s shortboard opening-round heats. Both athletes will get another chance in the second-round heats later in the competition. India’s men’s representatives, Kishore Kumar Anbarashu and Sivaraj Babu, are scheduled to begin their campaigns subsequently.
With medals, semifinal qualifications and strong performances across disciplines, India continued to make a significant impact on another busy day of competition at the Asian Games in Nagoya.