Asian Para Games 2026 Day 1: India win 11 medals in Aichi-Nagoya on October 19

India collected 11 medals on Day 1 of the Asian Para Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya on October 19, with four golds and three one-two finishes across shooting, para-athletics, judo and swimming. The opening salvo was led by Mona Agarwal’s gold in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1, while other standout performances came in long jump, javelin and middle-distance events.

China led the overall standings after the first day with 62 medals (20 Gold, 20 Silver, 16 Bronze), followed by Japan on 27 and Uzbekistan on 23. India finished fourth on the table with 11 medals — four gold, five silver and two bronze — narrowly ahead of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Korea on gold count.

In shooting, Mona Agarwal rose from sixth after the first 10 shots to post an Asian Para Games record of 250.0 in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 final, edging compatriot and two-time Paralympic champion Avani Lekhara, who scored 249.6, by 0.4 points; the victory also secured a 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics quota. The result produced a gold-silver sweep for India in the event and powered the opening-day medal charge.

Para-athletics produced multiple podiums: Nishad Kumar won the men’s T47 long jump with a best of 7.11m in his international debut in the event. Soumya, guided by Bharath Kumar, recorded a personal-best 5:12.39 to win the women’s 1500m T12/T13, while Venkatesh Radha took silver in 5:30.90 to complete a second India one-two of the day. Ravanni Valasanaini earned bronze in the women’s 1500m T11 with a time of 5:41.85.

India completed a third one-two finish in the men’s F46 javelin throw, where Rinku Hooda claimed gold with a season-best 65.11m and Ajeet Singh registered 65.02m for silver. On the tatami, visually impaired judokas Kokila and Kapil Parmar contributed to the tally with silver in the women’s J2 -52kg and bronze in the men’s J1 -70kg respectively.

In the pool, Ravi Karthik Budigina touched the wall in 56.68 seconds to take silver in the men’s 100m freestyle S13 final. Outside the medal events, para archer Sheetal Devi matched the world record during the qualification round of the women’s compound open event, and several Indian athletes in para-table tennis and para-badminton progressed by securing places in semi-finals across multiple classifications.

India’s Day 1 haul stands at four gold, five silver and two bronze, leaving the team fourth in the standings behind China (62 medals), Japan (27) and Uzbekistan (23).