Asian Games 2026 Day 7: India win first shooting gold as Gulveer, kabaddi teams shine

India’s medal tally continued to swell on Friday as Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet won the country’s second gold of the Asian Games in the mixed team 10m air pistol event.

The gold came after India had opened its account with the women’s cricket team, which defeated Sri Lanka in the final earlier in the Games. Suruchi and Kamaljeet’s victory also gave India its first shooting gold of the edition.

India added a silver in the men’s 50m rifle 3P team event, with Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudrankksh Patil and Niraj Kumar finishing second. Aishwary later finished fifth and Niraj eighth in the individual final.

Athletics produced three medals. Gulveer Singh won silver in the men’s 10,000m, while Manpreet Kaur claimed bronze in the women’s shot put. Baranica Elangovan made history by winning bronze in the women’s pole vault, India’s first Asian Games medal in the event.

Vishal TK and Kiran Pahal also advanced to their respective 400m finals.

Both Indian kabaddi teams reached the gold medal matches. The women defeated Nepal 41-23, while the men beat Thailand 66-28.

Manush Shah and Diya Chitale secured bronze in table tennis mixed doubles after losing their semifinal to China’s Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha. The medal is India’s second in Asian Games mixed doubles and fourth overall in table tennis.

Squash also produced strong results, with Abhay Singh and Anahat Singh reaching the men’s and women’s singles semifinals. Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar advanced to the mixed doubles semifinals, while Veer Chotrani lost to Pakistan’s Muhammad Irfan.

In badminton, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand fought back to beat Hong Kong 21-16, 16-21, 21-16. Defending champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, however, suffered a shock first-round defeat to Thailand.

Rishabh Das set a national record of 1:58.77 in the men’s 200m backstroke, finishing sixth, while Sajan Prakash was seventh in the 200m butterfly in his final Asian Games appearance.

Devi Seram Nirupama finished seventh in the women’s 61kg weightlifting final with a 217kg total. In boxing, Sachin Siwach advanced while Preeti Pawar lost 0-5 to North Korea’s Pang Choi Mi.

India’s women’s hockey team also continued its unbeaten run, defeating Japan 3-1 in the group stage.

India’s medal tally stood at 19 medals: two gold, eight silver and nine bronze after Friday’s shooting events.