India’s Golden Day: Six gold medals in boxing, archery, wrestling and hockey highlight Asian Games Day 13

Indian players pose after winning the gold medal in the women’s hockey final match at the 2026 Asian Games in Gif, Japan. (PTI Photo) India produced a stunning haul of six golds on the penultimate day of the Asian Games on Friday, with the women’s hockey team, three boxers, archers and wrestler Sujeet Kalkal leading a late surge that took the country into the top five of the medal table.India moved to fifth place with 76 medals – 16 gold, 25 silver and 35 bronze. India have more medals than fourth-placed Uzbekistan, who have 65, but are four golds behind.A strong performance on Friday gave India’s campaign a big boost after a mixed run in the earlier games.

Hockey ends 44-year wait

The biggest moment came in women’s hockey as India beat defending champions China 1-0 to win their first Asian Games gold in the sport since 1982.Lalremsiami scored the only goal of the final with a superb reverse crossbar strike in the 10th minute. But the goal was only the beginning of India’s challenge as China kept pushing for an equaliser.Goalkeeper Bichu Devi and the Indian defense stood firm in long periods of pressure. Players repeatedly put their bodies on the line to protect their one-goal advantage.The win also secured India direct qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, one of the key targets for coach Sjoerd Marijne’s side.The final started an hour late after the team buses of both finalists got stuck in a traffic jam caused by an accident unrelated to either team. Once the match started, India struck early and held on brilliantly thereafter.

Three boxing golds

Indian boxing enjoyed its most successful Asian Games in terms of gold medals, with Lovlina Borgohain, Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal all finishing on top.Lovlina celebrated her 29th birthday with a 5-0 win over China’s Ziyi Bao in the women’s 75kg final. She improved on the silver medal she won at the previous year.Parveen then defeated Paris Olympics bronze medalist Chen Nien-chin 3-2 in a split decision to win the 65kg gold.Ankush completed the golden hat-trick by winning over his opponent in the men’s 80kg final. He became the first Indian boxer since Amit Panghal in 2018 to win an Asian Games gold.The three golds took India’s boxing tally to six medals. Priya Ghanghas (60kg), Kapil Pokhariya (90kg) and Narender Berwal (+90kg) also won bronze medals.India’s best overall boxing win at the Asian Games so far came in Guangzhou 2010 when the team won nine medals – two gold, three silver and four bronze.Lovlina and Parveen also joined MC Mary Kom as Indian boxers who won Asian Games gold.

Sujeet makes a stunning comeback

Wrestler Sujeet Kalkal staged one of the greatest comebacks of the Games to win gold in the men’s 65kg category.His campaign began with a 13-3 TKO win over Sayed Omar Zazai of Afghanistan. He then defeated Iran’s Abbas Ebrahimzadehsavadkouhi by TKO without scoring a point.In the semi-finals, Sujeet faced Japanese Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyook and won 3–3 on criteria.The final against Tajikistan’s Abdulmazhid Kudiev appeared to slip away when Sujeet trailed 2-9.But the Indian wrestler refused to give up. He scored eight straight points with his speed and technique to turn the game around.Sujeet first cut the deficit to 8-9 before producing the decisive takedown with about 20 seconds remaining. He then defended his lead to win 10-9 and claim the gold.

Historic gold for the women’s recurve team

The Indian women’s archery team kicked off today’s gold rush by defeating 10-time Olympic champions South Korea 5-3 in the final.Ankita Bhakat, Kirti Sharma and 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod kept their composure in difficult windy conditions to register a historic victory.The result gave India its first Asian Games gold in the women’s team event.Kumkum returned to the range later in the day and teamed up with Dhiraj Bommadevara to win silver in the mixed recurve team event. In the final, they lost to China 3:5.The men’s recurve team of Bommadevara, Sanjay Bhoge and Neeraj Chauhan also finished silver after losing 1-5 to South Korea.India has now won seven archery medals at these Games – four gold, two silver and one bronze. The combined archers had previously completed a clean sweep of the team gold medals.

More medals boost India’s haul

India also won medals in sailing and sepaktakraw in a highly productive day.Nethra Kumanan won the bronze in the women’s boat, while Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma secured the bronze in the women’s skiff.The men’s quadrant team won the bronze medal in sepaktakraw.India’s six gold medals on Friday took the country to the fifth spot and provided a strong boost to the final phase of the Asian Games.