‘Your success is not yours alone’: PM Modi meets Asian Games medal winners, praises India’s sporting achievements

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hands over the jersey of Indian women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur during the 2026 Asian Games athlete interaction program in New Delhi. (PTI Photo) The entire men’s T20 team, led by Shreyas Iyer, who played the fourth T20I against the West Indies on Wednesday night and is scheduled to play the fifth and final match against them in Bengaluru on Saturday, was present at the event, along with the women’s team, which will take on Zimbabwe in the Prime Minister Djorrenha Modi Medal in Raipur on Friday in a T20I. Chand Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday.The athletes presented souvenirs to the Prime Minister, including signed jerseys and a bow from 17-year-old archery sensation Kumkum Mohod.Prime Minister Modi posed for photographs with the contingent, which was accompanied by senior officials from various sports organizations, including International Cricket Council Chairman Jay Shah.“You have made 140 million Indians proud. The biggest achievement is that the tricolor has flown high. Therefore, your success is not only yours but belongs to millions of our countrymen. I congratulate you on behalf of the entire country,” the Prime Minister said while addressing the medal winners.India won 85 medals at the Games, including 21 gold, down from the 106 medals it won in the previous edition in Hangzhou. However, the country’s debutants contributed strongly, winning 41 medals.“Especially I want to congratulate our female athletes, they contributed 38 medals and 11 of them were gold,” Modi said, praising the cricket and hockey team as well as the archers who won five gold medals.“These medals are not just numbers; they represent a strong image of the New India. Today, India is winning medals even in sports where we have never won a medal before in the history of the Asian Games. In mixed martial arts, soft tennis and some gliding events, our athletes have created history by winning medals for the first time. Friends, now we have to reach even greater heights in sports,” the Prime Minister added.“This time the Asian Games were memorable for us in many ways. Our men’s and women’s hockey teams are not missing here. Both teams won gold medals this time. And especially our women’s hockey team – by winning the gold, you ended a long wait of 44 years. In cricket, both our teams won medals for the second time in a row. Not only that, but also equaled their own records in men’s and kabaddi, both women’s teams won gold medals. Similarly, we won five gold medals in archery – and where there is a ‘panch’ (five), there were excellent performances in shooting, great achievements in boxing and wrestling and new records of our athletes, after 28 years she achieved a medal in weightlifting for the first time since 198 he said.Also present at the event was Harmanpreet Kaur, who led the women’s cricket team to gold in the Asian Games before stepping down as captain a few days ago. She presented Modi with a jersey signed by the medal winning team. Her successor Smriti Mandhana also posed for a photo with the Prime Minister.Golfer Pranavi Urs gifted Modi her glove and golf ball in a frame.