Asian Games Day 8: Anahat Singh wins historic silver, athletics stars shine in Nagoya

India had a day of contrasting emotions at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on September 27. Athletics produced a medal haul, squash bagged two silvers, while badminton ended in disappointment as India failed to win an individual medal for the first time in 12 years. Overall, India is 12th in the medal standings with 37 medals – four gold, 16 silver and 17 bronze.

India’s athletics campaign turned into the biggest source of joy on Sunday with Ancy Sojan, Sarvesh Kushare, Parul Chaudhary and Tejaswin Shankar taking the podium. Harita Bhadra added another bronze in the women’s 200m, taking India’s athletics tally to five medals on the day. The medals came along with several near misses, including Shaili Singh’s fourth-place finish in the long jump and Ankita’s fourth-place finish in the steeplechase.

ASIAN GAMES LIVE: UPDATE 27 SEPTEMBER | TABLE OF MEDALS

Grief occurred elsewhere. Both Abhay Singh and Anahat Singh went down in their respective squash finals. Anahat became the first Indian woman to win silver at the Asian Games in squash. India also endured a forgettable day in badminton where all four players lost in the quarter-finals. In particular, PV Sindhu had to negotiate a punishment plan before bowing to Chen Yufei. The day also saw India progress in shooting while there were outings in boxing, fencing, weightlifting, horse riding and sepak takraw.

INDIAN ATHLETES LIGHT UP NAGOYA

Athletics gave India spectacular results. Ancy Sojanová won silver in the long jump with a best performance of 6.53 m, she missed the gold by only two centimeters. Shaili Singh, who was also in medal contention, finished fourth with 6.42m.

Sarvesh Kushare added another silver in the men’s high jump after clearing 2.25m. He finished behind the gold medalist in the countdown and extended his outstanding run to silver from the Commonwealth Games earlier this year.

Parul Chaudhary then produced one of the shows of the day. Just a day after competing in the 1500m final, she clocked 9:08.67 to claim bronze in the women’s 3000m steeplechase. The time was a new national record, bettering her previous mark of 9:12.46 and becoming the first Indian woman to break the 9:10 mark. Ankita finished fourth in a personal best of 9:19.24.

Tejaswin Shankar finished his decathlon with 7,934 points to win bronze. His medal came after a demanding two-day program where the Indian produced a strong finish over the final 1500m course.

Harita Bhadra also made it to the podium in the women’s 200m, winning the bronze in 23.20 seconds.

There have been a few setbacks. Nandhini Kongan finished sixth in the 100m hurdles while Manju Rani was sixth in the women’s marathon walk. Priyanka Goswami was disqualified while J Aadarsh Ram also missed out on a medal in the high jump.

ANAHAT FALLS IN THE FINALS, MISSES THE OLYMPIC SPA

India had two chances to win squash gold but both Abhay Singh and Anahat Singh had to settle for silver.

Ng Eain Yow of Malaysia defeated Abhay 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 in the men’s singles final. The Indian stayed close in the opening game and led 5-3 in the third, but an eight-point run from Ng turned the game decisively in Malaysia’s favour.

Meanwhile, Anahat faced defending Asian Games champion Sivasangari Subramaniam and lost 11-4, 11-4, 11-7. The teenager produced a remarkable comeback from 0-2 down in her semi-final against Japan’s Satomi Watanabe, saving two match points to advance to the final, but was unable to repeat that comeback against top seed Malaysia.

Earlier, the world No. 17 scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to reach the squash finals at the Asian Games.

The defeat also meant that Anahat lost its place in the quota for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where squash will make its Olympic debut.

“Yeah, I’m definitely not happy with the color of the medal and I don’t think I played my best game today,” Anahat said. “But Siva was on fire today – she played really, really well. Hopefully I’ll get a few more chances next time. There are other ways to get to the Olympics and I hope to fight my way through them.”

BADMINTON BLOCKS AMONG SCHEDULING CONVERSATION

Badminton ended its individual competition for India on a disappointing note. PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda lost the women’s singles quarterfinals, while Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto were also eliminated at the same stage.

Sindhu lost 21-11, 18-21, 10-21 to China’s Chen Yufei. Unnati went down to Akane Yamaguchi of Japan while Treesa-Gayatri lost to Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan of Malaysia. Kapila and Crasto were defeated by China’s Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dongping.

The results meant that India finished the Asian Games without an individual badminton medal for the first time since 2014. India won three medals in Hangzhou – the historic men’s doubles of Satwiksaraj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, HS Prannoy’s singles bronze and the men’s team silver. Bronze was secured this time by the men’s team, but no individual or pair made it to the semi-finals.

The schedule became a major point of discussion alongside the results. Sindhu played three singles matches in 24 hourswith her third-round match against Tomoka Miyazaki starting at 12:07pm on Sunday, before returning to face Chen in the quarter-finals. Sindhu said the planning was not “really well organised” and pointed to the lack of time for recovery.

HS Prannoy also criticized the measures, raising concerns about the long journey, accommodation and lack of time for recovery. The schedule saw some singles players play two matches in a day, while the quarter-finals followed quickly. Chinese women’s doubles world number one Tan Ning also publicly questioned the schedule, saying female players had tried to complain about it.

For India, however, the controversy could not obscure the fact that the individual campaign ended without a medal.

BOXING ENSURES THREE MEDALS

India enjoyed a strong day in the boxing ring on September 27 as Ankush, Parveen and Narender won their quarter-finals to secure medals at the Asian Games.

Ankush produced a balanced performance in the men’s 80kg quarter-finals, defeating Tajikistan’s Nekruze Salimov 5-0 by unanimous decision. The Indian controlled the match with his movement and clean combinations, winning on all five judges’ scorecards. The win took Ankush into the semi-finals and secured India a medal in the category.

Parveen then continued India’s winning run in the women’s 65kg quarterfinals. She defeated Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor Khamidova 5-0 to secure another unanimous decision victory. Parveen, who had a bye in the previous round, used her range and strokes effectively to dominate the competition and book her place in the last four.

Narender completed a hat-trick of quarter-final victories for India in the men’s 90+kg category. He defeated Thailand’s Adthapong Saengtep to confirm another medal for India. Narender’s strength proved decisive as he forced several standing counts before the referee stopped the bout.

However, there was disappointment earlier in the day when Sachin Siwach lost to Japan’s Shunsuke Kitamoto in the men’s 60kg quarter-finals. Sachin lost 0-5, ending his medal campaign.

SHOOTERS KEEP INDIA AHEAD IN QUALIFICATIONS

Filming remained unfinished on Sunday, with grand finals in several disciplines.

Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rahi Sarnobat combined for 815 points with 20 inside tens in the women’s 25m accuracy team qualification. In the individual accuracy order, Esha with 290 points was the highest placed Indian in sixth place. Rahi was 15th with 287 while Manu was 16th with 287.

The action resumes on September 28 with the fast stage, followed by the final, which will see all three Indians stay in contention.

In the women’s trap qualifier, Neeru finished the opening day on top, Aashima Ahlawat was 16th and Manisha Keer 24th. In the men’s trap, Kynan Chenai was 11th after the first day, Shapath Bharadwaj 22nd and Ahvar Rizvi 35th.

Trap qualifying will continue before the final stages later in the competition.

Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rahi Sarnobat helped India to 815-20x in the women’s 25m team event.
In the women’s individual 25m pistol event, Esha finished sixth with 290 points. Rahi Sarnobat was 15th with 287 points while Manu Bhaker finished 16th with 287 points.
Neeru is first, Aashima Ahlawat 16th and Manisha Keer 24th after Day 1 of women’s trap qualification.
Kynan Chenai is 11th, Shapath Bharadwaj 22nd and Ahvar Rizvi 35th after Day 1 of Men’s Trap Qualification.

MEDALS WON

Athletics: Ancy Sojan won silver in women’s long jump while Shaili Singh finished fourth.
squash: Abhay Singh lost to Ng Eain Yow of Malaysia in the men’s singles final to win silver.
squash: Anahat Singh lost to Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam in the women’s singles final to win silver.
Athletics: Sarvesh Kushare won silver in men’s high jump by clearing 2.25m.
Athletics: Parul Chaudhary claimed bronze in the women’s 3000m steeplechase in 9:08.67, while Ankita finished fourth.
Athletics: Tejaswin Shankar won the bronze in the decathlon with 7934 points.
Athletics: Harita Bhadra won bronze in women’s 200m.
Box: Ankush defeats Tajikistan’s Nekruze Salimov in men’s 80kg quarter-final, confirms medal
Box: Parveen beats Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor Khamid in women’s 65kg quarter-final, confirms medal
Box: Narender beats Thailand’s Adthapong Saengtep in men’s over 90kg quarterfinals, confirms medal

UNSUCCESSFUL MEDALS / KEY RESULTS

Badminton: PV Sindhu lost to China’s Chen Yufei in the women’s singles quarterfinals.
Badminton: Unnati Hooda lost to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the women’s singles quarterfinals.
Badminton: Tanisha Crasto/Dhruv Kapila lost to China’s Huang Dongping/Feng Yan Zhe in the mixed doubles quarterfinals.
Badminton: Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly lost to Malaysia’s Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan in the women’s doubles quarterfinals.
Athletics: Nandhini Kongan finished sixth in the women’s 100m hurdles final.
Athletics: Manju Rani finished sixth in the women’s marathon walk; Priyanka Goswami was disqualified.
Weight-lifting: Harjinder Kaur finished ninth in the women’s 69 kg event.
Fencing: India lost to Uzbekistan in the women’s team saber quarterfinals.
Box: Sachin Siwach lost to Japan’s Shunsuke Kitamoto in the men’s 60kg quarterfinals.
Equestrian: Hriday Chheda finished eighth and Jai Sud ninth in the individual dressage final.
Agreement: India lost to South Korea and Philippines in Group B women’s doubles.

– The end