Asian Games 2026 Day 9: Athletics leads India’s 8-medal campaign, boxing secures more as near misses hurt

Gulveer Singh, Parul Chaudhary and Murali Sreeshankar (PTI Photos) NEW DELHI: India enjoyed another medal-rich day at the 2026 Asian Games on Monday, winning eight medals in athletics, shooting and athletics, while securing more medals in boxing. However, the haul came with a familiar mix of celebration and disappointment as several Indian athletes edged agonizingly close to the podium.The eight medals included four silver and four bronze, with Yashvir Singh and Rohit Yadav winning the javelin double, Murali Sreeshankar winning silver in the long jump, Gulveer Singh adding his second silver of the Games and Esha Singh claiming silver in the women’s 25m pistol. Vithya Ramraj, Parul Chaudhary and Pincky Balhara completed the day’s bronze medal haul.India also secured at least three more medals in boxing as three boxers – Lovlina Borgohain, Priya and Kapil Pokhariya – confirmed podium finishes by winning their respective quarter-finals.Asian Games full coverage | Medal Tally | Schedule

Javelin double, Gulveer’s second silver in athletics

In the absence of defending champion Neeraj Chopra, Yashvir Singh and Rohit Yadav ensured that India still ended up with two athletes on the men’s javelin podium.Yashvir set a personal best of 85.72m to win the silver, while Rohit won the bronze with 84.35m. Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage won the gold with 88.55m.Yashvir started strongly with 83.56m and briefly led the competition while Rohit moved to the top with 84.35m. Pathirage eventually took control with 88.33m before improving further in his final attempt.Meanwhile, Gulveer continued his outstanding campaign by winning his second silver medal. After finishing second in the 10,000 m, he ran a personal best 3:36.72 in the 1,500 m final. The gold was won by the Japanese Kazuto Iizawa, while compatriot Nagiya Mori took the bronze. India’s Yoonus Shah finished ninth.READ ALSO: India won 8 medals but remained outside the top 10 as gold still eludes them

Sreeshankar wins silver despite injury

Murali Sreeshankar survived a thrilling finish to win silver in the men’s long jump.The Indian had a best performance of 8.07m but was injured on his fourth attempt and failed to clear either of his last two jumps. Sreeshankar, who had already moved to the silver medal, could only watch as his rivals struggled to surpass his mark. None succeeded.China’s Yuhao Shi won gold with 8.17m, while Uzbekistan’s Anvar Anvarov took bronze with 8.06m. India’s Solomon David finished seventh with 7.70m.There were also bronze medals for Parul Chaudhary and Vithya Ramraj. Parul clocked 15:14.61 to finish third in the women’s 5000m, adding another bronze after her medal in the steeplechase.Vithya, meanwhile, clocked a personal best of 54.75 seconds to win bronze in the 400m hurdles and break PT Usha’s more than four-decade-old national record. Anu Raghavan finished fifth with a personal best of 55.88 seconds.

Esha fights her way through shootouts, Balhara adds kurash bronze

Esha Singh had to negotiate several shoot-offs before securing silver in the women’s 25m pistol.The world number one finished with 38 hits, the same score as China’s Xiao Jiaruixuan. Xiao eventually won gold after a decisive shootout, leaving Esha with silver.Esha’s journey to the podium included three shootouts against South Korea’s Kim Hyon Suk during the knockout stages before she secured a place in the medal positions.Pincky Balhara also added bronze in kurashi in women’s 78 kg. She beat South Korean Garam Lim in the quarterfinals, then lost 0:5 to another South Korean Sumin Mo in the semifinals.It was Balhara’s second Asian Games medal, eight years after her silver in Jakarta 2018.

Boxing guarantees another three medals

India’s medal tally will continue to grow after three boxers won their quarter-final bouts.Lovlina Borgohain defeated South Korea’s Seong Suyeon in the women’s 75 kg quarter-final and confirmed the medal. Priya also made it to the podium when she defeated Mijgona Samad of Tajikistan in the women’s 60kg quarter-final.The boxing trio was completed by Kapil Pokhariya, who defeated Kim Gichae from South Korea in the men’s 90kg quarter-final.The three wins mean India are guaranteed at least three more boxing medals, though their semi-final and final results will determine their colour.

Hockey prepares sensational Pakistan semi-final

The defending champions produced one of their most emphatic performances of the Games, thrashing Bangladesh 10-0 in their final Group A match.Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a hat-trick while Abhishek struck three times. Jugraj Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Sanjay and Mandeep Singh also made it to the score sheet.India finished top of Group A with five wins from five matches and a +45 goal difference. The result will be a sensational semi-final against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 1. Malaysia and South Korea will meet in the other semi-final.

Almost misses more on a busy day

Not everything went India’s way.Defending champion and Games record holder Avinash Sable finished fourth in the men’s 3000m steeplechase despite clocking a season-best 8:21.67. Japan’s Ryuji Miura won gold in a Games record 8:17.36.Seema Kaliramna also narrowly missed the women’s discus podium, finishing fourth with a personal best of 59.88m. All three medalists cleared 60m. India also finished fourth in the women’s 4x100m relay.Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan was seventh in the men’s 400m hurdles, while India’s women’s 25m pistol team of Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rahi Sarnobat finished fifth.Elsewhere, India qualified for the men’s 4x400m relay final and the 4x100m medley relay final, while Pooja reached the women’s 800m final. Squash produced a clean sheet, with the Indian women’s team defeating Japan and China and the men’s team defeating China and South Korea.Rain also affected the men’s cricket quarter-final against Afghanistan, which was abandoned, with India progressing to the semi-finals thanks to a higher seeding.After eight medals on the day, India had 45 medals – four gold, 20 silver and 21 bronze. Medal gains continued to rise, but the country’s gold remained unchanged, leaving India at 12th in the rankings.