|
India bagged seven more medals to its tally at the 2026 Asian Games on Sunday, but the haul was not enough to keep the country inside the top 10 of the medal standings.
India ended Day 8 with 37 medals four gold, 16 silver and 17 bronze and slipped from 10th to 12th position. The drop came despite the seven-medal haul as India failed to add a gold medal, while countries above it continued to strengthen their totals with victories in gold-medal events. India's seven-medal haul on Sunday comprised two silver medals in squash and five medals in athletics, with several notable performances across the track and field events. Parul Chaudhary delivered one of the day's standout performances, clocking a personal best and national record of 9:08.67 to secure bronze in the women's 3000m steeplechase. It was her second Asian Games medal in the event after she won silver at the 2023 Hangzhou Games. Bahrain's Winfred Yavi claimed gold in 9:04.36, while Kazakhstan's Norah Jeruto Tanui took silver. India's Ankita finished fourth after setting a personal best of 9:19.24. In the field events, Sarvesh Kushare and Ancy Sojan both secured silver medals, producing strong performances and remaining in contention for the top spot for significant stretches of their respective finals. Sarvesh Kushare cleared 2.25m in the men's high jump but had to settle for silver after Chinese Taipei's Chao Hsuan-Fu took gold. Ancy Sojan also finished second in the women's long jump, with her 6.53m effort surpassed by China's Huang Yingying, who leapt 6.55m with her final attempt. Earlier, Harita Bhadra secured bronze in the women's 200m, clocking 23.20 seconds and finishing just 0.01 seconds ahead of Japan's Ido Abigeirufuka. Tejaswin Shankar rounded off India's athletics medal haul with a bronze in the men's decathlon, finishing with 7,934 points. Shankar signed off his campaign in style, winning the final event, the 1500m, in 4:33.09 to secure his place on the podium. Japan's Yuma Maruyama claimed the gold medal with 8,123 points, while China's Chen Xinghua took silver with 8,012 points. Shankar came close to retaining the silver medal he won at the previous Asian Games, but settled for bronze after a strong overall performance. His 7,934-point total also marked an improvement over his previous Asian Games performance. The Indian athlete had crossed the 8,000-point mark earlier this year and came close to reaching the milestone again in the decathlon at the Asian Games. India's wait for a squash singles gold medal continued as Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh both finished runners-up after losing their respective finals to Malaysian opponents. Sivasangari Subramaniam defeated Anahat 11-4, 11-4, 11-7, while Ng Eain Yow overcame Abhay 11-9, 11-5, 11-5. Despite the defeat, Anahat's silver marked a historic achievement as she became the first Indian woman to reach an Asian Games squash singles final. Anahat's match lasted just 27 minutes, with the rising Indian squash player losing the first two games 4-11, 4-11. Later, the final game was slightly more competitive, but Anahat still lost 7-11. While, Abhay, ranked 26th in the world, was unable to match the world No. 17's consistency in the gold-medal clash as Eain Yow completed a straight-game victory to defend his Asian Games title. India's medal prospects also received a boost in boxing, with Parveen Hooda, Ankush Panghal and Narender advancing to the semifinals and thereby assuring themselves medals. The day's results also highlighted India's challenge in the overall medal standings. Despite adding seven medals, India did not win a gold, while countries above it continued to increase their gold-medal tallies. As a result, India finished the day with 37 medals and slipped to 12th place in the standings. (ANI)
|
