Asian Games October 1 wrap: Indian silverware grows, reaches finals in cricket and hockey

ByTech Word News

India’s day at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games was marked by medals, narrow misses and two big breakthroughs in team sports. The Indian contingent collected six confirmed medals, three silver and three bronze, while securing another medal in men’s sepaktakraw.

The day began with India adding to its medal tally in archery before wrestling, sailing and squash brought in more medals. There was also disappointment, with several athletes falling behind in medal contention and others seeing their campaigns end in the knockout stages.

ASIAN GAMES LIVE: UPDATE OCTOBER 1 | TABLE OF MEDALS

But the biggest celebrations came in the afternoon and evening when the Indian men’s hockey and cricket teams booked their places in the gold matches. The hockey team defeated Pakistan 4-3 in a thrilling semi-final, while the cricket team recorded a dominant 124-run victory over Sri Lanka to set up the final against Pakistan.

MATCH, SAILS LEAD THE WAY

Nitesh Siwach produced one of India’s highlight performances of the day as he claimed silver in the men’s 97kg Greco-Roman style after losing 0-4 to Japan’s Yuri Nakazato in the gold medal match. Nitesh had earlier beaten Turkmenistan’s Amanberdi Agamammedova 7-1 in the quarter-finals before defeating Mongolia’s Gankhuyag Ganbaatar 9-0 in the semi-finals. Courtesy: Asian Games

The wrestling silver was followed by another second place in sailing. Manu Francis and Prince Kurusinkal Noble won silver in the men’s sculls, giving India another medal on the water and adding to a productive campaign for the country’s sailors.

India then won a second sailing medal, with Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma finishing third in the women’s sculls to win bronze. The Indian pair finished with 28 points behind Japan and Hong Kong, China.

Squash teams also made their presence felt. The Indian women’s team won the bronze after losing 1-2 to Hong Kong, China in the semi-finals, while the men’s team clinched the bronze after losing 1-2 to Malaysia.

In combined archery, Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru won bronze in the men’s individual event after reaching the semi-final stage.

India also secured another medal in men’s sepaktakraw, with the quadrant team progressing to the semi-finals. This took India’s medal haul for the day to six, with another medal guaranteed.

BRONZE MEDAL MATCHES BRING HEART WEARING

Inunganbi Takhellambam missed out on a medal in judo. Courtesy: Reuters

Along with the celebrations came some painful exits. Mansi Ahlawat lost the women’s 62kg bronze medal match, ending her hopes of a podium finish. In the fight for medals, she lost 5:2 to Altjin Togtokh from Mongolia.

Judo produced another disappointment, with Inunganbi Takhellambam losing the women’s 70kg bronze, while Yamini Mourya’s campaign ended in a rematch.

Cyclists Harshita Jakhar and Swasti Singh failed to complete the women’s final in Madison, ending their medal hopes. In shooting, Anish Bhanwala finished seventh in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol final.

India’s rugby campaign also ended with defeats to Hong Kong, China and China. The men’s volleyball team suffered a quarter-final defeat to Pakistan, while wrestlers Aman and Sumit crashed out in the 77kg and 60kg Greco-Roman categories.

There was also disappointment in compound archery, where Chikitha Taniparthi lost her women’s individual quarter-final. Sports climber Deepu Mallesh failed to advance from the men’s speed 4 stage, while Keerthi Rangaswamy’s cyclists Chikka and Celestina crashed out in the women’s 1/16 sprint eliminations.

Canoeist Shikha Chouhan finished seventh in the women’s individual kayak final. However, in golf, India remained in medal contention, Pranavi Sharath Urs was second after the 2nd round. Diksha Dagar and Aditi Ashok were 21st and 25th respectively, while Saptak Talwar was seventh in the men’s event, followed by Veer Ahlawat at 16th and Yuvraj Sandhu at 22nd.

TENNIS’S MEDAL RUN ENDS AS SUMIT NAGAL BENDS OUT

India’s tennis campaign ended without a medal after Sumit Nagal lost 4-6, 4-6 to China’s Yibing Wu in the men’s singles quarter-finals on Thursday. The seventh Indian’s defeat, which came in one hour and 38 minutes, ended India’s last remaining medal hope in the sport.

Nagal reached the last eight after defeating South Korea’s Hong Seong-chan 6-4, 6-0 and Uzbekistan’s Sergey Fomin 6-3, 6-2. Dhakshineswar Suresh also reached the third round, beating Indonesia’s Gunawan Trismuwantara before losing to sixth seed Tseng Chun-hsin of Chinese Taipei.

Two Indian doubles pairs also reached the quarterfinals but failed to advance. Yuki Bhambri and Dhakshineswar Suresh lost to Chinese Taipei’s Chenjui Ho and Yu-Hsia Hsu, while N Sriram Balaji and Anirudh Chandrasekar went down in a tie-break decider against China’s Jiang Fumin and Zhang Tianhui.

In women’s doubles, Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale lost in the opening round, while both Indian mixed doubles teams were eliminated before the medal rounds.

The result ended India’s tennis medal run at the Asian Games for the first time since 1986, after the country had won at least one medal at every edition since 1990.

HOCKEY, CRICKET BRINGS TWO MASSIVE FINAL BEDS

India beat Sri Lanka by 124 runs in men’s cricket semi-final. Courtesy: PTI

The biggest moments of India’s day came in the team events as both the hockey and cricket teams reached their finals.

The hockey team produced a a dramatic 4-3 win over Pakistan in the semi-final. India appeared to be cruising after building a 3-0 lead, but Pakistan fought back to level the match and put the defending champions under serious pressure.

As the match headed for a thrilling finish, Abhishek scored the decisive goal with just 45 seconds remaining to send India into the gold medal match. Harmanpreet Singh earlier contributed two goals while Sukhjeet Singh also found the net.

Cricket provided an equally emphatic result, although there was far less drama. India beat Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the men’s T20 semi-final after being bowled out for 169 for 7.

Ishan Kishan was the star with the bat, smashing an unbeaten 80 off 46 balls, while 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi contributed 38 on his debut. The Indian bowlers then tore through Sri Lanka, dismissing them for just 45 in 9.5 overs. Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel and Abhishek Sharma took two wickets each.

The victory set up India and Pakistan for the gold medal in men’s cricket, and the hockey team advanced to the title match. With six medals confirmed, another certainty in sepaktakraw and two grand finals secured, India finished on October 1 with a lot to play for in Aichi-Nagoya.

This is how the Indian contingent fared on October 1 at the 2026 Asian Games

VICTORY MEDALS

Silver

  • Match: Nitesh Siwach — Silver in Greco-Roman Men’s 97kg
  • Sailing: Manu Francis and Prince Kurusinkal — Silver in Men’s Skiff
  • Yachting: Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma – Bronze in Women’s Skiff

Bronze

  • Squash: India Men’s Team – Bronze
  • Squash: Indian Women’s Team — Bronze
  • Archery: Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru — Bronze in Men’s Individual Composite

CONFIRMED MEDAL

  • Sepaktakraw: Indian Men’s Quadrant Team — Confirmed a medal after reaching the semi-finals

CONTAINS MEDALS

  • Hockey: India men’s team — into final after defeating Pakistan.
  • Cricket: India men’s team — into final after defeating Sri Lanka.
  • Golf: Pranavi Sharath Urs – 2nd after 2nd round; Diksha Dagar T21, Aditi Ashok T25.
  • Golf: Saptak Talwar – 7th; Veer Ahlawat 16th; Yuvraj Sandhu 22 after 2nd round

NO MEDALS

  • Match: Mansi Ahlawat lost the women’s 62kg bronze medal match.
  • Canoe slalom: Shikha Chaouhan — 7th in women’s individual kayak final.
  • Judo: Inunganbi Takhellambam loses women’s 70kg bronze medal.
  • Cycling: Harshita Jakhar and Swasti Singh — DNF in madison women’s final.
  • Shooting: Anish Bhanwala — 7th in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol final.
  • Rugby Sevens: India lost to Hong Kong 7-33 and China 5-43.
  • Tennis: Sumit Nagal lost in men’s singles quarterfinals.
  • Judo: Yamini Mourya lost in reps.
  • Volleyball: India lost to Pakistan in men’s quarterfinals.
  • Match: Aman — lost in the Greco-Roman quarterfinals at 77 kg.
  • Wrestling: Sumit — lost in the 60kg Greco-Roman quarterfinals.
  • Sport Climbing: Deepu Mallesh – Failed to qualify for quarter finals in men’s speed 4.
  • Archery: Chikitha Taniparthi – lost in the quarter-finals of the singles.
  • Cycling: Keerthi Rangaswamy Chikka and Celestina — eliminated in women’s sprint 1/16.
  • Taekwondo: Rupa Bayor — Eliminated in women’s individual poomsae semifinal.

– The end