India enjoyed one of its most productive days at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 in Japan on Tuesday, 22 September, headlined by the women's cricket team clinching the country's first gold medal of the edition with a dominant 147-run victory over Sri Lanka in the final at Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin. The men's badminton team also guaranteed itself at least a bronze by reaching the semifinals, while gymnast Pranati Nayak advanced to the women's vault final.

Women's Cricket: A Record-Breaking Gold

The Women in Blue delivered a commanding performance in both departments of the game to secure a second successive Asian Games gold, having also won in Hangzhou 2022. Smriti Mandhana anchored the innings with a superb 79, propelling India to 216/3 — the highest total in the history of the Women's Asian Games and the highest score ever recorded in a Women's T20 final. Sri Lanka were then bowled out for a meagre total as Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Shreyanka Patil, and Sree Charani shared nine wickets between them.

The result elevated India to eighth place in the overall medals tally with one gold, four silver, and two bronze, totalling seven medals. This comes just weeks after the same squad claimed the Asia Cup title, underscoring the depth and momentum in Indian women's cricket.

Men's Badminton: Semifinals Assured

The Indian men's badminton team stormed into the semifinals with a clinical 3-0 win over hosts Japan, guaranteeing themselves at least a medal at the Games. Lakshya Sen set the tone with a stirring comeback from a game down, defeating Kodai Naraoka 11-21, 21-5, 21-19 in a pulsating contest. The doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then extended India's lead before Ayush Shetty sealed the win in straight sets against Koki Watanabe.

India had entered the quarterfinals after a 3-0 victory over Bangladesh in the round of 16. The team will now face the winner of the China vs South Korea quarterfinal in the semifinals on Wednesday. Notably, India won a silver medal at the Hangzhou 2022 edition after losing the final to China, and the team is in contention to go one better this time.

Women's Badminton Exit and Other Results

In contrast, the Indian women's badminton team suffered a disappointing 1-3 defeat to hosts Japan in the quarterfinals. Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu lost 21-23, 21-18, 21-11 to three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi, and Unnati Hooda also fell to Yamaguchi in her tie. Tanvi Sharma lost to Nozomi Okuhara 21-12, 21-10, with only the doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand securing a win for India.

Gymnast Pranati Nayak, an Asian Championship and FIG World Cup medallist, qualified for the women's vault final by finishing seventh in qualification with a score of 12.916. She had finished eighth at the Hangzhou Games and will be aiming to go higher this time. Meanwhile, the rifle pairing of Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Rakesh Mane narrowly missed out on a podium finish, ending fourth in the 10m Air Rifle mixed team event.

Hockey and Boxing Continue Strongly

The men's hockey team put in another emphatic Pool A performance, thrashing Sri Lanka 16-1 at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium, Kakamigahara. Jugraj Singh led the scoring with four goals while Abhishek completed a hat-trick. Mandeep Singh opened the scoring in the fifth minute after a feed from Jarmanpreet Singh. India had previously beaten Indonesia 13-1 in their tournament opener.

In boxing, Sakshi Chaudhary claimed a 5-0 win over the Philippines' Aira Villegas — a Paris Olympics bronze medallist — in the women's 51kg Round of 32, while Jadumani Singh Mandengbam also won 5-0 against Nepal's Chandra Bahadur Thapa in the men's 55kg Round of 32, keeping both pugilists in medal contention.

Medals Table and What Comes Next

China continued to dominate the overall standings with 53 medals, including 32 gold, buoyed by a rich haul in swimming, cycling, and volleyball. Hosts Japan are a distant second with 46 medals, including 11 gold. India, now at eighth, will look to climb further as the Games continue with the badminton semifinals and boxing medal rounds on the horizon.