India’s medal tally at the Asian Para Games 2026 swelled to 88 on Thursday as Shailesh Kumar led a podium sweep in the men’s high jump, Solairaj Dharmaraj set an Asian record in the men’s long jump and archer Sheetal Devi won two golds.
The Indian contingent climbed to fourth place in the overall standings with 21 gold, 26 silver and 41 bronze medals after four days of competition in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
India enjoyed a successful day across para athletics, para archery and para swimming, highlighted by a historic first, multiple gold medals and several podium finishes.
In para archery, Sheetal Devi and Toman Kumar clinched gold in the para compound mixed team event with a thrilling 151-148 victory over Indonesia’s Teodora Audi Ayudia Ferelly and Ken Swagumilang.
Sheetal Devi also won the women’s compound individual gold as she bagged her third medal at Aichi-Nagoya, having earlier settled for silver in the women’s compound doubles.
Swati Chaudhary scripted history by winning India’s first-ever medal in the women’s W1 individual archery event at the Asian Para Games.
She went down fighting in the final against the People’s Republic of China’s Mengkan Cen, narrowly losing 6-4 to secure the silver medal.
On the track, Suvarna Raj clinched gold medal in the women’s discus throw F54 with a 15.66m effort, while Tejalben Damor added a silver medal in the women’s 400m T12 after clocking 57.60 to conclude her campaign with one silver and a bronze medal.
The women’s 400m T47 event witnessed a double-podium finish for India, with Anjanaben Bumbadiya securing gold in 59.97, followed by Jayanti Behera, who claimed silver with a time of 1:00.65.
Dilip Mahadu Gavit also added to India’s gold medal tally by winning the men’s 400m T47 with an impressive 48.27.
The highlight of the day for India in para athletics came with a podium sweep in the men’s high jump T42/T63.
Shailesh Kumar won gold after clearing 1.89m to set a new Asian Para Games record. Varun Singh Bhati secured silver with a jump of 1.84m, while Rahul completed the sweep with bronze at 1.81m.
In another standout performance, Solairaj Dharmaraj clinched gold in the men’s long jump T44/T62/T64 with a leap of 7.15m, setting another Asian Para Games record and surpassing his previous mark of 7.08m, which he set in 2025.
The medals also continued to flow for India in the pool, where para swimmer Kapil Kumar finished second in the men’s 400m freestyle S10 with a time of 4:38.44.
Swatik Patil claimed bronze in the men’s 100m breaststroke SB9, clocking 1:13.77, while Tejas Nandkumar bagged another third-place finish in the men’s 100m backstroke S7 with a time of 1:18.58.
At the previous edition in Hangzhou, India recorded their best-ever Asian Para Games performance with 111 medals, including 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze.
The Asian Para Games 2026 will conclude on Saturday.
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/asian-para-games-2026-india-october-22-report
