Asian Para Games: Double gold Sheetal Devi, Shailesh Kumar led by Shailesh Kumar headline India’s best day

India enjoyed a podium finish in the T63 high jump. Shailesh Kumar led the way with a game-high 1.89m. (Photo Credit: PCI) NEW DELHI: India enjoyed its best day at the 2026 Asian Para Games on Thursday, winning 26 medals, including seven golds, as a remarkable medal rush across athletics, archery, swimming, badminton and table tennis took the country’s tally to 88.Armless archer Sheetal Devi led the charge with two gold medals in less than two hours, while the athletics contingent remained India’s biggest contributor. Suvarna Raj, Shailesh Kumar, Anjanaben Bumbadiya, Dilip Mahadu Gavit and Solairaj Dharmaraj were among the other gold medalists on a memorable day for the Indian contingent.India’s tally now stands at 21 gold, 26 silver and 41 bronze medals. The seven gold medals helped the country regain fourth place in the standings after slipping to sixth on Day 2 and fifth on Day 3.

Sheetal Devi strikes twice, Swati Chaudhary makes history

Sheetal, the 19-year-old reigning world champion and world number one, began her golden run by teaming up with Toman Kumar to defend India’s mixed team title. The Indian duo beat Indonesia’s Teodora Audi Ayudia Ferella and Ken Swagumilang 151-148.Less than two hours later, Sheetal returned to the range for the women’s singles final. After overcoming a four-point deficit, she beat Singapore’s Alim Nur Syahidah 142-139 and repeated her triumph from the 2023 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou.India also celebrated a historic success in archery as Swati Chaudhary won the first ever Asian Para Games medal in the W1 category. She settled for silver after losing 4-6 to China’s Cen Mengkan in the women’s singles final.READ ALSO: Where India stands in the medal table after a best day with 26 medals including 7 gold

Athletics powers India’s haul of seven golds

The day began with Suvarna Raj winning gold in the women’s discus F54 with a best of 15.66m. The 44-year-old wheelchair athlete recorded four throws over 15m to secure the biggest win of her career.India then enjoyed a podium finish in the men’s T63 high jump. Shailesh Kumar, who won bronze in the long jump on Wednesday, led the way with a Games record of 1.89m. Former Paralympic bronze medalist Varun Bhati took silver with a season’s best of 1.84m, while Rahul completed the all-India podium with a jump of 1.81m.Anjanaben Bumbadiya won gold in the 400m T47 in 59.97 seconds, with compatriot Jayanti Behera taking silver in 1:00.65. Dilip Mahadu Gavit, who won gold in the 100m T47 on Wednesday, added another title by winning the 400m T47 final in 48.27 seconds.Solairaj Dharmaraj provided a fitting end to today’s athletics event as he successfully defended his T44/T62/T64 men’s long jump title with an Asian record of 7.15m. Malaysia’s Eddy Bernard won silver with 6.34m while Japan’s Yuma Tamaki took bronze with a personal best of 6.89m.Tejalben Damor also added to India’s medal tally by winning silver in the women’s 400m T12 in 57.60 seconds. The visually impaired athlete previously won bronze in the 200m T12 event.

Four more medals in swimming, Ravi Budigina completes hat trick

India added four medals in the pool to take the swimming total to 10, though gold remained elusive.Eighteen-year-old Ravi Budigina won bronze in the men’s 50m freestyle S13 with a time of 25.89 seconds. It was his third medal of the Games after silvers in the 100m breaststroke and freestyle.Kapil Kumar won silver in the S10 men’s 400m freestyle in 4:38.44, finishing behind Japan’s Akito Minai who set a Games record of 4:27.44. Swatik Patil bagged bronze in 100m backstroke SB9 in 1:13.77 while Tejas Nandakumar took bronze in 100m backstroke S7 in 1:18.58.

Indian shuttlers have secured several medals in badminton

India’s para-shuttlers also enjoyed a productive day as Pramod Bhagat and Nitesh Kumar set up the All India SL3 men’s singles final.Six-time world champion and Tokyo Olympian gold medalist Bhagat survived a marathon two-hour-nine-minute semi-final against South Korea’s Lee Seunghu, winning 16-21, 21-18, 21-17.Paris Paralympic champion Nitesh had earlier defeated Indonesia’s M Imran 21-19, 21-16 to reach the final. He also advanced to the SL3-SU5 mixed doubles final with Thulasimathi Murugesan after the Indian pair defeated China’s Li Mingpin and Xiao Zuxian 21-19, 14-21, 21-17.Naveen Sivakumar reached the men’s singles SL4 final while Indian shuttlers collected five bronze medals in other events.

Bhavina Patel, Subham Wadhwa won bronze in table tennis

India’s medal rush extended to para-table tennis as Bhavina Patel and Subham Wadhwa secured bronze in the mixed doubles XD7.The Indian pair lost 6-11, 11-8, 5-11, 8-11 to South Korea’s Jang Yeongjin and Lee Migyu in the semi-finals after defeating Japan’s Kimie Bessho and Masanori Uno 11-9, 11-3, 11-6 in the quarter-finals.China continued to dominate the overall standings, surpassing 300 medals to reach 313, including 149 gold. Host Japan was second with 136 medals, including 40 gold, while Uzbekistan was third with 117 medals, including 37 gold.A day of seven golds in India lifted the contingent back to fourth place with a total of 88 medals and growing momentum across disciplines.