Asian Para Games 2026: Which state won the most medals for India?

A total of 97 athletes from 20 states and union territories secured 114 medals for India at the 2026 Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, scripting its best-ever campaign with a 4th-place finish in the medal tally.

This accounts for 58% of India’s overall contingent of 167 athletes, meaning that nearly every second member of the squad returned with a medal from the quadrennial event.

Haryana once again topped the list with 24 medallists, accounting for nearly 25% of the overall tally. Uttar Pradesh (13) and Tamil Nadu (9) followed as the next two biggest contributors.

These three states together accounted for 47% of India’s medallists, while the remaining 17 states contributed the other 53 per cent.

India won 30 medals in Japan, out of which 27 were individual gold and the other three were from the doubles events in badminton and archery.

Out of 27 individual golds, 12 were won by just the two states of Haryana (7) and Uttar Pradesh (5). Maharashtra and Rajasthan athletes also won three individual gold medals each.

Meanwhile, states like Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir achieved a 100% conversion of their medallists into gold medallists, with each producing one medallist who secured at least one gold.

Sheetal Devi of Jammu & Kashmir emerged as India’s star athlete with two gold medals and one silver, while Bihar’s Shailesh claimed one gold and one bronze, further showcasing the diversity in Indian sports.

Here is the state-wise distribution of Indian medalists at the 2026 Asian Games:

Sports-wise Domination across states

Haryana and UP Dominate Athletics

Of the 97 Indian medallists, 53 came from the single sport of Para Athletics, accounting for 54.6% of the overall list.

What makes this even more remarkable is that India fielded 62 athletes in the discipline, and 85% of them returned with at least one medal from the Games.

15 of Haryana’s 24 medallists and 10 of Uttar Pradesh’s 13 medallists came from Para Athletics, further cementing these two states’ position as among the most successful in track and field.

These 25 athletes together claimed 34 of India’s 65 Para Athletics medals, i.e 52.3% of the total, meaning roughly one in every two medals in the discipline was won by an athlete from either Haryana or Uttar Pradesh.

Tamil Nadu's reign in Para Badminton

Para Badminton emerged as India’s second-most successful sport at the Games, producing 15 of the country’s medallists who together accounted for 16 medals.

Tamil Nadu proved to be the most successful state in the discipline, contributing five of the 15 medallists who played a part in 10 of India’s 16 medals.

Thulasimathi Murugesan and Naveen Sivakumar were also part of two of the three gold medals of the Para Badminton contingent.

Similarly, Rajasthan has shown dominance in shooting by claiming four of the five medals, while Karnataka and Haryana together secured seven of the 11 medals in swimming.