Asian Games 2026 Day 7: India win seven medals as kabaddi teams deliver golden double on action-packed Saturday

L-R: Joshna Chinappa, Prachi Choudhary and Tajinderpal Singh Toor NEW DELHI: India enjoyed one of its most productive days at the 2026 Asian Games on Saturday, winning seven medals with the kabaddi teams providing the biggest highlights as they successfully defended their respective gold medals.The men beat Iran 40-34 in a hard-fought final, while the women beat Iran also 37-34 to complete a memorable golden kabaddi double for India. The men’s triumph was their ninth Asian Games gold in the sport, while the women’s win took their tally to four.India’s haul of seven medals also included a historic silver for marathon runner Sawan Barwal, silver medals for Tajinderpal Singh Toor and the women’s 50m rifle 3-position team and bronze medals for Prachi Choudhary in the 400m and Joshna Chinappa-Velavan Senthilkumar in squash.The day’s results took India’s total medal tally to 30 – four gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze.Asian Games full coverage | Medal Tally | Schedule

Barwal delivers historic marathon silverware

The day began with one of India’s biggest surprises as Sawan Barwal produced a stunning run to win silver in the men’s marathon and break his own national record.The 28-year-old from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, completed the 42.195 km race in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 37 seconds, finishing behind Japan’s Ichitaka Yamashita, who took the gold in 2:10:49. China’s Peiyou Feng took the bronze in 2:12:13.Barwal’s silver was India’s first marathon medal at the Asian Games since Hosur Kukkappa Seetharan’s bronze in 1982 in New Delhi. He also became only the fourth Indian marathon runner to win an Asian Games medal.Chhota Singh won gold and Surat Singh Mathur bronze at the inaugural Asian Games in 1951, while Seetharan’s bronze came three decades later.READ ALSO: How two kabaddi golds helped India break back into the top 10

Kabaddi teams hold gold

India’s kabaddi campaign once again ended with both teams on the podium, although neither final was easy.The women held their nerve to defeat Iran 37-34, while the men recovered from a tight first half to defeat the same opponents 40-34.The men’s gold was India’s ninth in the sport at the Asian Games, underscoring their long-standing dominance, while the women’s team retained the title they won in Hangzhou.The two wins represented India’s only gold medals of the day and provided a major boost to the country’s medal tally.

Shooting and athletics add another three medals

At the range, Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa Vinod and Ashi Chouksey bagged silver in the women’s 50m rifle 3 position team event.The Indian trio scored 1,763 points to finish behind China, who set a Games record 1,773 for gold. Kazakhstan won the bronze with 1754.Tilottama and Vidarsa also reached the singles final but narrowly missed out on the podium, finishing fourth and fifth.In athletics, Prachi Choudhary added bronze in the women’s 400m in 53.21 seconds. Bahrain’s Salwa Naser won gold in a Games record 49.20 seconds, while Iran’s Zahra Zarei Manoujan took silver in 52.38 seconds.There was also disappointment as two-time defending champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor had to settle for silver in the men’s shot put. His throw of 20.64m was well short of his personal best of 21.77m.Iran’s Mohammadreza Tayebise won gold with a Games record of 20.81m, beating Toor’s previous Games mark of 20.75m.

Anahat, Abhay keep hopes of squash gold alive

India’s squash campaign received a major boost as Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh stormed into their respective singles finals.Eighteen-year-old Anahat produced one of the biggest wins of her career when she came from 0-2 down to stun world number six Satomi Watanabe of Japan 9-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-6, 11-3.Abhay followed Pakistan’s Muhammad Irfan 11-3, 12-10, 11-6 to reach the men’s final.Gold for both players would also bring the prospect of qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where squash will make its debut.Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar earlier secured bronze for India in the mixed doubles after losing 1-2 to Hong Kong’s Tang Ming Hong and Lee Ka Yi.

Hockey, archery provides additional positives

The men’s ice hockey team reached the semi-finals after defeating Japan 2-0 in their penultimate pool match.India also made a strong start to their archery campaign. Dhiraj Bommadevara dominated the men’s individual qualification with 698 points to set a new Asian Games qualification record. Chikitha Taniparthi topped the women’s composite qualification with 705 points.India also finished first in the mixed team qualification.

Mixed luck in badminton and table tennis

Young shuttler Unnati Hooda produced one of India’s best performances in badminton as she won two matches to reach the women’s singles quarterfinals.The 19-year-old first defeated Malaysia’s Ling Ching Wong 21-14, 20-22, 21-19 before stunning world number six Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia 21-19, 21-13. In the quarterfinals, she will face Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi.Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also advanced after defeating Japan’s world number three Maya Matsumoto and Yuki Fukushima 24-22, 21-18.However, Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty were eliminated.India’s campaign in table tennis ended without another medal after Manush Shah and Yashaswini Ghorpade lost their singles matches before the quarter-finals. India finished with one TT medal — Manush and Diya Chitale won the mixed doubles bronze.The day also saw limited returns in esports, fencing and canoeing.