Mirabai Chanu wins silver as India collect five medals on Day 4 of Asian Games 2026
On September 23 at the Asian Games 2026, India added five medals to its tally, including Mirabai Chanu’s silver in the women’s 49kg weightlifting, taking the country’s total to 12 medals (including one gold) and leaving India placed 13th in the medal table after Day 4.
Chanu finished second in the women’s 49kg after North Korea’s Ri Song Gum shattered the world record to secure a third consecutive Asian Games title; Chanu’s silver is India’s first women’s weightlifting medal since Karnam Malleshwari in Bangkok 1998. Chanu opened the snatch with 83kg and followed with 85kg and 87kg, and posted 107kg and 111kg in the clean and jerk, electing not to take a third attempt.
Jay Meena secured bronze in men’s soft tennis after a semi-final defeat to Japan’s Takuya Kurosaka, delivering what the report described as India’s first-ever Asian Games medal in soft tennis. The men’s badminton team also took bronze after falling to China in the semi-finals; Lakshya Sen lost the opening rubber, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won the second, Ayush Shetty was beaten in his match, and the pairing of M.R. Arjun and Hariharan were unable to overturn the deficit in the fourth game.
India’s shotgun squads earned two bronzes as the men’s and women’s skeet teams finished on the podium, while in individual shotgun events Anant Jeet Singh and Raiza Dhillon reached their respective finals but each finished fourth. The women’s 10m air pistol team comprising Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Suruchi Singh also placed fourth, and Manu Bhaker was the only Indian to reach the individual final where she finished fifth.
Sepaktakraw elimination came after India failed to secure the 3-0 scoreline needed against the Philippines despite winning the first two games; Japan progressed on a tiebreak after having earlier beaten India 2-1. India’s fencers were all eliminated in the round of 16, and Indian swimmers did not advance to the finals in the two events they contested on Wednesday.
In equestrian cross-country, Ashish Limaye and his horse finished 12th in the individual event while the Indian side were knocked out in the team competition. The women’s hockey team defeated Thailand 20-1 to remain top of Pool B, and the men’s kabaddi team beat Bangladesh 48-25 to advance to the semi-finals while the women’s kabaddi team recorded a win over Iran.
Progress across other sports included Ankush advancing to the quarter-finals in men’s 80kg boxing, Roshibina Devi reaching the women's 60kg wushu final with a 2-0 win over Thania Kusumanigtyas of Indonesia, Abhay Singh and Veer Chotani winning men’s singles round of 32 squash matches, Tanvi Sharma moving to the women’s round of 16, and both mixed doubles table tennis pairs (Harmeet Desai/Yashaswini Ghorpade and Manush Shah/Diya Chitale) reaching the quarter-finals; Indian rowers reached the finals in five events.
India’s five medals on Day 4 — Mirabai Chanu’s silver and bronzes in men’s skeet team, women’s skeet team, soft tennis and the men’s badminton team — left the nation with 12 medals overall and in 13th place on the standings after September 23, while confirmed upcoming stages include India’s men’s kabaddi side in the semi-finals and multiple Indian rowers set to compete in their finals.
