Asian Games 2026 Day 4: Mirabai Chanu ends Asian medal wait; India won two skeet bronzes in shooting

Mirabai Chanu won silver; Indian men’s and women’s skeet teams bag bronze (Image credit: Agencies) NEW DELHI: Mirabai Chanu’s long wait for a medal at the Asian Games finally came to an end as she won silver in the women’s 49kg category on Wednesday.The 32-year-old lifted a total of 198 kg (88 kg + 111 kg) and finished second. The medal was India’s first weightlifting medal at the Asian Games since Karnam Malleswari won silver in 1998.Mirabai has been chasing an Asian Games medal since 2014. The Tokyo Olympic silver medalist once again showed her class on the big stage to add another big medal to her career.With a familiar smirk on her face, she lifted the heavy lifts lightly before declaring that her “life is now complete.”

Skeet shooters save the day for India

It was a mixed day for India at the range.The much-anticipated women’s 10m air pistol team of two-time Olympic medalists Manu Bhaker, Suruchi Singh and Esha Singh could not win a medal in either the team or individual events.Bhaker was the only Indian of the trio to qualify for the singles final, but finished fifth.The 24-year-old Paris Olympic bronze medalist later broke down as she spoke about the emotional impact of the death of her childhood coach Jaspal Ran in June.However, the skeet shooters ensured that India did not leave the range empty-handed.Both men’s and women’s teams won bronze medals.Raiza Dhillon, Maheshwari Chauhan and Parinaaz Dhaliwal combined to finish third in the women’s team event with a score of 331. China won gold with 357 points, while Kazakhstan won silver with 336.Raiza and Parinaaz also reached the singles final but could not finish on the podium.In the men’s event, Anantjeet Singh Naruka, veteran Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill secured the bronze with a combined score of 346.Anantjeet was the only Indian of the trio to reach the singles final, finishing fourth.

Wushu: Roshibina enters the race for the gold medal

Roshibina Devi Naorem advanced to the gold medal match in the women’s 60kg category after defeating Thania Kusumaningtyas of Indonesia 2-0 at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall.In the final, she will face the Chinese Xiaoyu Zhang.Twenty-five-year-old Roshibina has already won a silver and a bronze medal in the previous two years of the Asian Games.

Badminton stars humbled by China

The Indian men’s badminton team ended their campaign with a bronze medal after losing 1-3 to China in the semi-finals.Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty failed to overcome their higher-ranked opponents, while Satwiksiraj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were the only Indians to win a match.India had won silver at the previous edition in Hangzhou in 2023 where they were also defeated by China in the final.World No. 14 Lakshya, who played a key role in India’s run to the semi-finals, lost 16-21, 18-21 to world number six Shi Yu Qi in the opening singles.India went down 0-1 but Satwik and Chirag brought the team back into the match.The Indian pair produced a strong performance to defeat Paris Olympics silver medalists and reigning world champions Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20.However, Ayush Shetty and the second doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun failed to win their matches as China sealed the tie.

Table tennis and squash players advance

Indian pairs Harmeet Desai-Yashaswini Ghorpade and Diya Chitale-Manush Shah advanced to the quarterfinals of the table tennis mixed doubles.Seventh seeds Chitale and Shah advanced easily with a 3-0 win over the Sri Lanka-Maldives combination.In the round of 16, Shah and Chitale defeated Moosa Ahmed and Aishath Nazeem 11-0, 11-7, 11-6.They will face Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kim and Wong Chun Ting in the quarter-finals. A win will secure them a medal.In squash, Abhay Singh, Veer Chotrani and Tanvi Khanna entered the round of 16 with comfortable victories.Second seed Abhay dropped just three points in his opening men’s singles match against Thailand’s Arkaradet Arkarahirunya as he won 11-1, 11-0, 11-2.Chotrani beat Shamil Wakeel of Sri Lanka 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 in the round of 16.In the women’s singles, Tanvi beat Dami Kim of South Korea 11-5, 11-7, 11-5.

The women’s hockey team continues its winning streak

The Indian women’s hockey team recorded their third straight win in Pool B, defeating Thailand 20-1.Drag-flicker Deepika Sehrawat was the star of the show as she scored a record nine goals in one match.Deepika scored in the 2nd, 8th, 9th, 24th, 33rd, 36th, 39th, 51st and 57th minutes. She converted all nine penalty corner attempts.Navneet Kaur also scored four goals in the 4th, 29th, 35th and 51st minutes.India also continued their strong run in kabaddi, with both the men’s and women’s teams registering comprehensive victories over Bangladesh and Iran in their group stage matches.