Asian Games
Asian Games 2026: Seema ends 16-year wait as India win five medals
Seema Kumari ended India’s 16-year wait for a women’s 10,000m medal as India won five medals on September 24 at the Asian Games.
Seema clocked 32:50.05 to win bronze in the women’s 10,000m (Photo credit: PTI)
India added five medals on September 24 at the Asian Games 2026, with Seema Kumari winning bronze in the women's 10,000m and Roshibina Devi taking silver in wushu. India also picked up medals in the mixed 4x400m relay, men's double sculls and mixed skeet.
Seema clocked 32:50.05 to finish third behind Bahrain's Winfred Yavi and Japan's Nozomi Tanaka. Her bronze ended India's 16-year wait for a women's 10,000m Asian Games medal, with the last coming in the 2010 edition. Later in the day, India's mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Vishal TK, Manu TS, Vithya Ramraj and Poovamma Raju won silver in 3:14.46, behind Bahrain's 3:12.87.
Roshibina Devi added a silver in the women's 60kg Sanda final, losing 0-2 to China's Xiaoyu Zhang. The medal was her third consecutive Asian Games medal after bronze in 2018 and silver in 2022. India also secured bronze in rowing through Satnam Singh and Salman Singh in the men's double sculls, while Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Parinaaz Dhaliwal won bronze in mixed skeet.
India's men's hockey team continued its dominant run with an 8-2 win over South Korea. Shilanand Lakra, Sukhjeet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh and Rajinder Singh found the net as India maintained its winning momentum.
In kabaddi, the women's team beat Japan 50-25 to finish the group stage unbeaten, while the men's team defeated Chinese Taipei 37-21 to reach the semifinals. India are now assured of a medal in the men's competition.
Squash saw Veer Chotrani and Abhay Singh reach the men's singles quarterfinals, while Anahat Singh and Tanvi Khanna advanced in the women's singles, setting up an all-Indian quarterfinal.
There were mixed results in boxing. Parveen advanced to the women's 65kg quarterfinals via walkover, while Sakshi lost 2-3 to Kazakhstan's Alua Balkibekova in the women's 51kg Round of 16. Sumit Kundu also exited the men's 70kg event after an injury forced him to withdraw against Iraq's Ali Qasim Al-Sarray.
In other events, Manush Shah progressed to the men's singles table tennis Round of 16 with a 4-0 win over Malaysia's Wong Qi Shen. Pranati Nayak finished sixth in the women's vault final, while India's fencing campaign ended with Bhavani Devi and Shreya Gupta exiting in the Round of 16.
India ended September 24 with five medals: two silver and three bronze, while several athletes and teams moved into the knockout stages of their respective events.