New Delhi: India entered Day 8 of the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya with 23 medals and a packed schedule involving athletes across surfing, athletics, archery, badminton, equestrian, fencing, shooting, canoe sprint, table tennis, esports, squash, kabaddi, sailing, boxing and hockey.
The biggest early medal gains came from athletics and shooting. Sawan Barwal and Kartik Karkera competed in the men’s marathon, while Ashi Chouksey, Tilottama Sen and Vidarsa K Vinod featured in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions. India also had medal opportunities in canoe sprint, with Harshwardhan Shaktawat Singh, Raju Rawat, Neha Devi, Parvathy Geetha and Prasanna Kumar in action.
Squash produced another major highlight. Anahat Singh defeated Japan’s Satomi Watanabe in a dramatic semifinal comeback to reach the women’s singles final. Abhay Singh also advanced to the men’s singles final, giving India a double representation in the singles gold medal matches. Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar were also involved in the mixed doubles semifinal.
Kabaddi remains one of the biggest attractions of the day, with both Indian teams facing Iran in gold medal matches. The women’s final was scheduled for 9:30 am, followed by the men’s final at 2:30 pm.
Badminton featured Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty, PV Sindhu, Unnati Hooda, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, while India also had representation in table tennis through Yashaswini Ghorpade and Manush Shah.
The programme also covered boxing, fencing, sailing, equestrian, surfing and esports, with Indian athletes competing in multiple qualification rounds, team events and knockout contests. Hockey rounded off the major team-sport schedule, with India’s men facing Japan in Pool A.
The evening session is packed with athletics, including Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Karanveer Singh in the shot put final, Praveen Chithravel and Karthik Unnikrishnan in triple jump, Kiran Pahal and Prachi in the women’s 400m final, and Parul Chaudhary and Pooja in the women’s 1500m final.
With medals and progression opportunities spread across the day, Day 8 represents one of the busiest schedules yet for the Indian contingent at Aichi-Nagoya.
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