Asian Games: India’s shooting campaign ends with 15 medals, volleyball team exits

India’s shooting campaign at the 2026 Asian Games ended with 15 medals after Anish Bhanwala finished seventh in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol final on Thursday.

Anish entered the eight-man final through the two-shooters-per-country rule after finishing ninth in qualification with 576-17x. South Korea had three shooters in the top eight, allowing Anish to advance in place of Song Jong Ho.

He recorded 11 hits from 15 shots in the final. Anish was tied for the third-best score at one stage but was eliminated in seventh after losing the tie-break based on his lower qualification score.

India finished its shooting campaign with three gold, eight silver and four bronze medals. Trap shooter Neeru Dhanda was the standout performer with two golds and a silver.

The 15-medal haul was below India’s record 22 medals from the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, which were held in 2023. Shooting remained India’s second-highest medal-producing sport at the ongoing Games behind athletics.

Meanwhile, in archery, Chikitha Taniparthi missed out on a third medal after losing 143-144 to Indonesia’s Nurisa Dian Ashrifah in the women’s compound individual quarterfinals.

Chikitha had won gold in both the women’s team and mixed team events on Wednesday. She struggled for consistency in the quarterfinal, winning only the fourth end, with an eight-point first shot in the fifth end proving costly.

India also suffered a setback in men’s volleyball, losing 0-3 to Pakistan in the quarterfinals. The Indian team went down 19-25, 23-25, 18-25 in a match lasting one hour and 22 minutes.

The defeat ended India’s hopes of winning a men’s volleyball medal for the first time since the 1986 Seoul Games. India’s other medals in the event came at the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games.

Ashwal Rai led India’s scoring with nine points, while Jerome Vinith, Joel Benjamin Jebaraj and Chirag Yadav contributed eight each. Pakistan’s Murad Khan scored 19 points.

India had topped its group with wins over Vietnam, Hong Kong China and Qatar.