Reliance Foundation (RF) athletes Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty helped India secure a bronze in the men’s badminton team event at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, with the pair winning their doubles match against China in the semi-final. India eventually went down 1-3, but their place in the last four had already guaranteed a medal.
Satwik-Chirag responded strongly after Lakshya Sen lost the opening singles match to Shi Yu Qi, defeating China’s Wang Chang and Liang Weikeng 21-11, 22-20 to level the tie. Ayush Shetty then lost to Li Shifeng, before India’s second doubles pair was beaten to send China into the final.
India add five medals
India enjoyed a medal-filled day across multiple disciplines, with Mirabai Chanu ending a 28-year wait for an Asian Games weightlifting medal by winning silver in the women’s 49kg category. Mirabai lifted 87kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 198kg, finishing behind North Korea’s Ri Song Gum.
In shooting, India added two bronze medals through the women’s and men’s skeet teams. Raiza Dhillon, Maheshwari Chauhan and Parinaaz Dhaliwal finished third in the women’s event with a combined score of 331, while Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill also secured bronze in the men’s team event. Naruka finished fourth in the individual final after qualifying with 119/125.
Jay Meena created history in soft tennis, winning India’s first-ever Asian Games medal in the sport. Meena defeated the Philippines’ Sherwin Nuguit 4-3 in the quarter-final before losing 2-4 to Japan’s Takuya Kurosaka in the semi-final to claim bronze.
India also upgraded a medal through Roshibina Devi, who defeated Indonesia’s Thania Kusumaningtyas in the women’s Sanda 60kg semi-final to reach the gold-medal bout. The result guarantees Roshibina at least a silver and marks her third consecutive Asian Games podium.
In shooting, Manu Bhaker finished fifth in the women’s 10m air pistol final. Esha Singh and Suruchi Singh finished outside the final qualification places, while India’s trio finished fourth in the team event.
India’s kabaddi teams continued their strong run, with the women defeating Iran 37-23 and the men beating Bangladesh 48-25. The men’s team have now secured a semi-final place, while the women will face Japan next.
In hockey, the Indian women produced another dominant performance, defeating Thailand 20-1 in their Pool B encounter, with Deepika scoring nine goals.
Boxing saw Ankush Panghal progress to the quarter-finals of the men’s 80kg category after a 5-0 victory over Bahrain’s Hamsa Vogel.
In squash, Abhay Singh, Tanvi Khanna and Veer Chotrani all progressed to the Round of 16 in their respective singles events.
India also progressed across several rowing and canoe sprint events. Balraj Panwar reached the men’s single sculls final, while Satnam Singh and Salman Khan advanced in the men’s double sculls. India’s women’s four also reached the Final A. In canoe sprint, the men’s K4 500m crew qualified for the final, while Indian crews in the women’s C1 200m, women’s K2 500m, men’s K2 500m and women’s C2 500m progressed to the next stages.
In table tennis, both Indian mixed doubles pairs advanced, with Manush Shah-Diya Chitale and Harmeet Desai-Yashaswini Ghorpade progressing through the Round of 16.
The day also saw India’s men’s regu team defeat the Philippines 2-1 in sepaktakraw, although the result was not enough to secure a semi-final place. In equestrian, India finished sixth in the eventing team competition, while Indian swimmers Rohit Benedicton, Aneesh Sunil Kumar Gowda and Vedaant Madhavan missed out on the finals in their respective events.
With medals across shooting, weightlifting, soft tennis and badminton, and further podium opportunities assured in wushu, India continued to build momentum at Aichi-Nagoya 2026.