India's men's and women's hockey teams reach Asian Games 2026 finals in Aichi-Nagoya
India's men's and women's hockey teams have both advanced to the gold medal matches at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, which are being held from September 19 to October 4. The men's side progressed after a 4-3 semi-final win over Pakistan, while the women beat South Korea 2-0 to reach their final.
The Indian sides have shown strong form at the continental tournament. The men's team have won Asiad gold four times, in 1966 (Bangkok), 1998 (Bangkok), 2014 (Incheon) and 2022 (Hangzhou), while the women's team have won one Asiad gold, at the 1982 New Delhi Games.
In the men's semi-final against Pakistan, captain Harmanpreet Singh scored twice inside the opening quarter and Sukhjeet added a third soon after. Pakistan reduced the deficit before half-time through Abu Mahmood, then Hannan Shahid (45th minute) and Waheed Rana drew the sides level at 3-3. Abhishek struck late — with the goal aided by a deflection off Sufyan Khan — to secure a 4-3 victory and a place in the gold medal match.
The women's semi-final against South Korea was decided in the second half after the hosts' goalkeeper Lee Seoyeon frustrated India in the first 45 minutes. Ishika Chaudhary opened the scoring in the 44th minute and captain Salima Tete added a second in the 48th minute, sealing a 2-0 win and passage to the final.
At the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, the men's team topped Pool A with five wins from five games, then beat South Korea 5-3 in the semi-final and defeated Japan 5-1 in the final to claim gold. Those results represent the most recent men's Asiad gold before the current tournament.
India's sole women's Asian Games gold came at New Delhi 1982, when the team topped Pool A with four wins, beat Japan 7-2 in the semi-final and defeated Pakistan 7-1 in the final to take the title.
Both the men's and women's teams will contest their respective gold medal matches at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya before the tournament concludes on October 4.