Pooja Singh wins Asian Games bronze in women’s high jump, ends India’s 24-year wait

Pooja is competing in the women’s high jump final at the ongoing 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya. (PTI photo) India’s Pooja Singh won the bronze medal in the women’s high jump at the 2026 Asian Games on Tuesday, clearing 1.84m in the final. The 19-year-old’s best performance was short of her personal best but good enough for third place in Nagoya.Uzbekistan’s Sayfullaeva won gold with a personal best of 1.90m, while Kazakhstan’s Kristina Ovchinnikova took silver after clearing 1.87m.Pooja briefly took the lead after clearing 1.84m. However, she failed to clear 1.87m in all three attempts and had to settle for bronze.The medal caps a breakthrough season for Pooja, who is India’s national record holder. She had earlier broken Sahana Kumari’s 14-year-old national record of 1.93m at the Asian Under-20 Athletics Championships.Pooja’s bronze was India’s first high jump medal at the Asian Games since Bobby Aloysius won silver in 2002.Her podium finish came a day after Sarvesh Kushare won silver in the men’s high jump. Kushare cleared 2.25m, matching the winning height of Chinese Taipei’s Chao Hsuan-Fu. However, Chao won the gold after clearing 2.25m in his first attempt, while Kushare needed two attempts at the height.Bronze went to Sanghyeok Woo from the Republic of Korea with the best distance of 2.22m.Pooja’s bronze along with Kushar’s silver and Parul Chaudhary’s bronze added to India’s haul of athletics medals at the Asian Games.