From Athletics to Kabaddi: India’s Most Successful Asian Games Sports

India’s Asian Games medal tally has been driven by a handful of sports, with athletics comfortably ahead as the country’s biggest medal contributor.

Shooting, wrestling, tennis and kabaddi are the other four sports in India’s top five by total medals.

With the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya approaching, here is a look at the five sports that have won India the most medals at the Games, along with some of the athletes who have shaped those numbers.

1. Athletics - 283 medals

Gold: 85 | Silver: 102 | Bronze: 96

Athletics has produced 283 medals for India at the Asian Games, making it the country’s most successful sport at the continental multi-sport event.

The sport has featured at every Asian Games since the inaugural edition in New Delhi in 1951. Milkha Singh was one of India's early stars, winning the 200m and 400m gold medals at the 1958 Tokyo Games and the 400m and 4x400m relay golds at the 1962 Jakarta Games.

P.T. Usha won four gold medals and one silver at the 1986 Seoul Games, while Neeraj Chopra has won the men’s javelin title at both Jakarta 2018 and Hangzhou 2022.

Athletics was also India’s most successful sport at Hangzhou, producing 29 medals - six gold, 14 silver and nine bronze.

2. Shooting - 80 medals

Gold: 16 | Silver: 30 | Bronze: 34

India’s shooters have won 80 Asian Games medals, with Jaspal Rana among the discipline’s standout performers. 

Rana won the 25m centre-fire pistol gold at Hiroshima 1994 and added two individual golds at Doha 2006. Ronjan Sodhi won the double trap gold at Guangzhou 2010, while Sift Kaur Samra won the women’s 50m rifle 3P title at Hangzhou 2022 with a world-record score.

Shooting has contributed medals across rifle, pistol and shotgun events, making it one of India’s most consistent disciplines at the Games.

3. Wrestling - 65 medals

Gold: 11 | Silver: 15 | Bronze: 39

Wrestling has produced 65 medals for India at the Asian Games, including 11 golds.

Yogeshwar Dutt ended a 28-year wait for an Indian wrestling gold when he won the men’s 65kg freestyle title at the 2014 Incheon Games.

Bajrang Punia followed with gold in the same weight category at Jakarta 2018, after winning silver at Incheon four years earlier.

India’s wrestling medal tally has been built across multiple weight categories and generations, with the sport remaining one of the country’s established medal contributors at the Games.

4. Kabaddi - 13 medals

Gold: 11 | Silver: 1 | Bronze: 1

Kabaddi has produced 13 medals for India at the Asian Games, but its record stands out for its dominance: 11 of those medals have been gold.

India has dominated the men’s competition since kabaddi was introduced to the Asian Games programme in 1990. The women’s event was added in 2010, and India won gold in both the men’s and women’s competitions at Hangzhou 2022.

Anup Kumar was part of India’s gold-winning teams at the 2010 and 2014 Games, while Ajay Thakur featured in the 2014 gold-winning side and later captained India to bronze at Jakarta 2018.

5. Tennis - 34 medals

Gold: 10 | Silver: 7 | Bronze: 17

India’s tennis players have won 34 Asian Games medals, including 10 golds.

Leander Paes accounts for five of those gold medals. He won men’s doubles and team gold at Hiroshima 1994, men’s doubles gold at Busan 2002, and men’s doubles and mixed doubles gold at Doha 2006.

Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan continued India’s doubles success with gold at Jakarta 2018. The victory extended India’s run of winning a men’s doubles medal at every Asian Games since 1994.

With Aichi-Nagoya 2026 beginning on September 19, these five sports will have another opportunity to add to India’s Asian Games record.