India win first gold as women's cricket defend title; tally seven after Day 3 in Aichi-Nagoya
India secured its first gold medal on Day 3 of the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya on 22 September when the Harmanpreet Kaur-led women’s cricket team defeated Sri Lanka in the final, with the margin variously reported as by 147 and by 148 runs, taking India’s total to seven medals (one gold, four silver, two bronze) and placing the country eighth on the medal table.
The Indian shooting contingent accounts for five of those seven medals — four silver and one bronze — while Suchika Tariyal won a bronze in MMA in the women’s 60kg category. Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane finished second in qualification of the mixed team 10m air rifle event to reach the gold-medal match but faltered in the final. The team’s gold in cricket was a title defence under Harmanpreet Kaur.
In cricket, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side successfully defended their Asian Games crown by beating Sri Lanka in the final; the match scoreline is reported both as a 147-run and a 148-run victory in different accounts. The report also notes a heavy win for the other Harmanpreet-led side in hockey, which defeated Sri Lanka 16-1 in a men’s Pool A encounter, with a higher conversion rate of shots on target to goals that the coverage said would have pleased Craig Fulton.
India’s men’s badminton team beat Japan 3-0 to reach the semi-finals and thereby assured a medal in the men’s team event, with Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty and the doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy all contributing. The Indian women’s badminton team lost 1-3 to Japan after PV Sindhu dropped the first game against Akane Yamaguchi; the doubles duo of Gayatri Gopichand and Tanvi Sharma won one match but India failed to secure any singles victories.
Boxing produced positive results as Sakshi Chaudhary defeated Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aira Villegas 5-0 in the opening round and Jadumani Singh recorded a 5-0 win over his Nepali opponent to advance to the pre-quarter-finals. In Wushu, Roshbina Devi moved into the semi-finals of the women’s 60kg event, guaranteeing a medal, while Aryan lost in the men’s 56kg quarter-finals to his Uzbekistan opponent. In karate, Chetan Bhatt missed out on a bronze due to the senshu rule after a tied bout, and Alisha was eliminated in the round of 16.
There were setbacks in several sports as India fell short of medal contention in swimming, sepak takraw and soft tennis, according to the report. The overall medal count after Day 3 remained at seven — one gold, four silver and two bronze — leaving India in eighth place on the standings at the end of the day.
Indian shooters and lifters face a busy schedule on 23 September: the women’s 10m air pistol qualification featuring Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Suruchi Singh is set for 9:15 a.m. IST with the final at 10:15 a.m. IST if they qualify, and men’s and women’s skeet finals are also scheduled during the day. Weightlifting competition begins on 23 September with Gyaneshwari Yadav named for the women’s 53kg final and the women’s 49kg final also on the programme; the Indian men’s badminton team will contest their team semi-final on Wednesday, 23 September.
China sits atop the medal table with 53 medals, including 38 gold, while India will continue competition on 23 September with the men’s badminton semi-final and multiple shooting and weightlifting events that could affect its position on the standings.
