Asian Games 2026 Day 10: Neeru Dhanda, women’s 4x400m relay September as 8 medals lead India over 50

After the final of the women’s 4×400 meter relay, gold medalist India was on the podium. (AP photo) NEW DELHI: Neeru Dhanda won the first-ever Asian Games gold in the women’s trap event despite heavy rain and cold weather before the women’s 4x400m relay team added another gold in the evening to make it a fruitful day 10 for India at the Aichi-Nagoya Games on Tuesday.The gold double helped India cross the 50-medal mark and climb back into the top 10 of the overall medal standings. India ended the day with 53 medals – six gold, 21 silver and 26 bronze – to rank 10th in the table.The two gold medals also ended India’s wait for a place on the podium after two days without a gold, following a double triumph in kabaddi on 26 September.Asian Games full coverage | Medal Tally | Schedule

Neeru makes the rain to make history

Dhanda produced one of the outstanding performances of the Games as she battled incessant rain and difficult visibility to win the individual gold in the women’s trap.The Indian shooter remained composed despite the conditions and finished with 28 hits in the final, setting an Asian Games record.It was a landmark result for Indian shooting as Dhanda became the country’s first-ever women’s trap champion at the Asian Games. Her win was also India’s first individual shooting gold in the ongoing edition.Dhanda’s success came on a day when the weather repeatedly tested athletes across disciplines, but she managed to stay focused when it mattered most.India added another shooting medal of the day with Dhanda, Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer taking silver in the women’s trap team event.

India’s Manisha Keer, Ashima Ahlawat and Neeru Dhanda pose with the national flag. (PTI photo)

The women’s relay brings the second gold

India’s second gold of the evening came via the women’s 4x400m relay team of Kiran, Prachi Choudhary, MR Poovamma and Vithya Ramraj.The quartet clocked 3:29.69 to finish on top, securing India’s first athletics gold of the Games.For Poovamma, the win added another chapter to an impressive Asian Games career. The 36-year-old was also part of India’s gold medal-winning 4x400m relay teams in 2014 and 2018.Meanwhile, Vithya rounded off a memorable Games campaign with another medal after earlier bettering PT Usha’s more than four-decade-old national record in the women’s 400m hurdles.The relay gold provided a much-needed highlight for India’s athletics campaign, which otherwise produced mixed results in Aichi-Nagoya.

Gulveer completes the medal treble

Nineteen-year-old height lifter Pooja Singh added a bronze after clearing 1.84m, while Gulveer Singh continued his remarkable run by winning bronze in the men’s 5000m.Gulveer has already won silver in the 10,000m and 1,500m, completing a treble of athletics medals at these Games.His success placed him in elite company. Gulveer became only the second Indian to win three athletics medals at a single Asian Games after Lavy Pinto, who won gold in the 100m and 200m and silver in the 4x100m relay at the inaugural edition in 1951.India also secured bronze in the 4x100m medley relay where Gurindervir Singh, Sneha Sathyanarayana, Animesh Kujur and Harita Bhadra clocked a personal best of 41.06 seconds.The men’s 4x400m relay quartet of Vishal TK, Dharamveer Choudhary, Jay Kumar and T Manu also finished bronze in 3:01.61. India failed to defend the gold won in the previous edition.However, the country drew in both the men’s and women’s 800m finals.The athletics medal was well behind India’s six golds from the previous edition, but a triumph in the women’s relay ensured the campaign ended on a high on Day 10.

Bronze medalist Gulveer Singh of India. (AP photo)

Box continues to complete tasks

India’s boxing campaign also got a big boost when Ankush Panghal reached the men’s 80kg final, ending an eight-year wait for an Indian men’s boxing finalist at the Asian Games.Ankush staged a scintillating comeback as he defeated reigning 75kg world champion Fazliddin Erkinboev of Uzbekistan 4-1 to secure a place in the gold medal clash.Parveen Hooda also advanced to the final of the women’s 65kg category after a commanding 5-0 win over China’s Li Shu.Meanwhile, Narender Berwal claimed bronze after losing 0-5 to reigning world super heavyweight champion Aibek Oralbay of Kazakhstan in the +90kg semi-final.The medal was Narender’s second Asian Games bronze after he also finished on the podium in Hangzhou in 2023.Indian boxers secured six medals at these Games, surpassing their previous four.

The volleyball team is making a stunning comeback

The Indian men’s volleyball team also advanced to the quarterfinals after staging a remarkable comeback against Qatar.India recovered from two sets down to beat Qatar 26-28, 25-27, 25-23, 25-20, 24-22 in a Group C marathon that lasted two hours and 47 minutes.The win capped off a perfect group stage run for India, who earlier beat Vietnam 3-0 and Hong Kong China 3-0.All four quarterfinals are played on Thursday.

Archers are making progress

India also progressed in the recurve events as Dhiraj Bommadevara, Neeraj Chauhan and Kumkum Mohod Anil advanced to the quarter-finals.Chauhan produced one of the biggest results of the day when he stunned South Korea’s Kim Je Deok, a three-time Olympic gold medallist, 6-4 in the men’s singles round of 16.Bommadevara also advanced after defeating Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Hsiang-Hui 6-2.In the women’s recurve tournament, Kumkum Mohod Anil beat Bangladesh’s Saima Salah Uddin 6-0 to reach the last eight.

Squash, tennis add wins

The Indian women’s squash team wrapped up a 3-0 win over Iran in their final group stage match to advance to the quarterfinals.Tanvi Khanna was declared the winner after Iran’s Narges Soltani retired while on the heels. Anahat Singh then defeated Fereshteh Eghtedari 3-0 before veteran Joshna Chinappa completed the clean sweep with a 3-0 win over Najmeh Boushehrizadeh.India will face Singapore in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.In tennis, Dhakshineswar Suresh and Sumit Nagal won their singles campaigns to book their spots in the pre-quarterfinals.Dhakshineswar beat Indonesia’s Gunawan Trismuwantara 7-5, 7-6(2), while Nagal beat South Korea’s Seongchan Hong 6-4, 6-0 in a rain-interrupted match.Cycling, however, was disappointing, with Indian riders failing to advance from the preliminaries in the men’s and women’s team sprint and women’s team pursuit events.