First gold for India at Asian Games 2026: Harmanpreet Kaur-led women’s cricket team beats Sri Lanka in final

Team India won gold at the Asian Games. (Image credit: BCCI Women) NEW DELHI: The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side opened India’s gold medal account at the 2026 Asian Games on Tuesday by defeating Sri Lanka in the women’s cricket final at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, ending the country’s wait for a top-flight berth in Aichi-Nagoya.The defending champions produced a dominant performance in the gold medal clash, first posting a mammoth 216/3 after opting to bat before bowling out Sri Lanka for just 69 to seal an impressive 147-run victory.The result gave India its first gold and seventh medal overall at the Asian Games, taking the tally to one gold, four silver and two bronze medals now.Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh were the architects of India’s formidable unit. Mandhana smashed 79 off 45 balls while Shafali contributed 48 off 29. Richa then provided a spectacular finish, remaining unbeaten on 49 off just 22 balls.Indian batsmen crossed the boundary 13 times in their innings as they posted their highest total in women’s cricket at the Asian Games.Mandhana and Shafali gave India a flying start, adding 99 for the opening wicket before the latter was dismissed for her brisk 48. Mandhana continued her attack and brought up her half-century before falling to 79 in the end.Harmanpreet made 19 but Richa ensured there was no dent in India’s scoring. Her unbeaten cameo, which included six fours and three sixes, took India past the 200-run mark and set Sri Lanka a daunting target.With the ball, India maintained their dominance. Deepti Sharma (3/6) claimed three wickets while fellow spinners Shafali Verma (2/3), Shreyanka Patil (2/9) and Shree Charani (2/13) claimed two wickets each as Sri Lanka scraped away a modest total.

India joined Pakistan with two cricket golds from the Asian Games

The triumph means that India now has two gold medals in women’s cricket at the Asian Games, having also won gold for the country in women’s cricket in 2023.India did not participate when cricket was played at the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014. Their 2023 title and Tuesday’s triumph now puts them level with Pakistan, who won gold medals in women’s cricket in 2010 and 2014.The men’s competition will begin later in the Games, with the Shreyas Iyer-led Indian side scheduled to open their campaign in the second quarter-final on September 28. India is also the defending men’s champion at the Asian Games.

Shooting, MMA add six medals before cricket gold

India went into Tuesday’s cricket final with six medals from the first two days of competition – four silver and two bronze – five of which came from shooting.On Day 2, Himanshu Dhillon won silver and Rudrankksh Patil won bronze in the men’s 10m air rifle individual event. Dhillon finished second behind China’s Olympic champion Sheng Lihao, who successfully defended his title at the Asian Games, with 254.2 points, while Patil secured the bronze with 230.9.Dhillon and Patil then teamed up with Parth Man to win another silver in the men’s 10m air rifle, taking India’s shooting tally to five medals.India’s other medal on day two came from Suchika Tariyal, who made history by becoming the country’s first Asian Games medalist in mixed martial arts. She won bronze after her semi-final against Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo ended in a draw, Teo progressing under the competition’s tie-break rule after Suchika was about 700 grams heavier at the morning weigh-in.India’s first medals at the Games also came from shooting on the first day. Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Uttam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod won silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event before Valarivan added another silver in the individual event.Valarivan shot 252.4 in the final to finish behind Japan’s Hinata Taichi, who won gold with a Games record 253.0. South Korean Ban Hyojin took the bronze with 230.4.After two days without gold, India’s women cricketers finally put the defending champions on the podium – and did so in emphatic fashion.The cricket gold also lifted India to seven medals: one gold, four silver and two bronze, giving a significant boost to the country’s campaign as the Aichi-Nagoya Games progress to the next stage.