India retain Asian Games men's hockey gold in Aichi-Nagoya; players, staff to receive cash prizes

India's men's hockey team retained the Asian Games 2026 title with a 5-1 victory over Malaysia in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Saturday, October 3, and Hockey India announced cash awards for the champions.

The win marked the first time any nation has defended the men's hockey title at the Asian Games; India had previously won the gold at Hangzhou 2022, defeating Japan in that final. The women's side also won gold in Aichi-Nagoya, beating China to end a 44-year wait, and both Indian teams claiming gold in the same edition was a first for the country.

India defeated Malaysia 5-1 in the final, with captain Harmanpreet Singh scoring twice. Jugraj Singh, Hardik Singh (from a penalty stroke) and Shilanand Lakra registered one goal apiece in the victory.

Hockey India announced that each player of the victorious men's team would receive INR 11 lakh and that each member of the support staff would be awarded INR 5.5 lakh. The federation's president, Dilip Tirkey, publicly congratulated the team on their title defence.

Tirkey said: “Team India have won back-to-back Asian Games gold medals… Team India’s performance was excellent. Winning the gold medal again is a fantastic achievement.” He added: “History has also been made here because, for the first time in Indian hockey history at the Asian Games, both the women’s and men’s teams have won gold medals in a single edition of the Asian Games.”

The win brought India's total number of Asian Games men's hockey gold medals to five, recorded in 1966, 1998, 2014, 2023 and 2026.

Both the men's and women's gold-medal finishes carry a qualification consequence: Tirkey congratulated both teams for securing direct berths to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.