Sheetal Devi wins two archery golds as Dharmaraj Solairaj sets Asian long jump record in Nagoya

Sheetal Devi and Dharmaraj Solairaj spearheaded India's gold haul at the Asian Para Games in Nagoya on October 22, 2026, with Sheetal claiming two archery golds and Solairaj defending the men's long jump with an Asian record. India added multiple podium finishes across athletics, swimming, badminton and table tennis on a productive day for the contingent.

India recorded a clean sweep of the men's high jump T63 podium and a one-two finish in the women's 400m T47, while para-badminton players secured places in several finals that set up multiple gold-medal opportunities. The day's medals also included podiums in swimming and table tennis, and individual performances across field and track events bolstered the overall tally.

Armless archer Sheetal Devi first won the women's compound individual title, defeating Singapore's Nur Syahidah Alim 142-139 to claim her second successive Asian Para Games gold in the event, and then teamed with Toman Kumar to take mixed team compound gold. The Indian duo beat Chinese Taipei 142-141 in the semifinals and overcame Indonesia 151-148 in the final. Swati Chaudhary won silver in the women's W1 individual final, losing 4-6 to China's Cen Mengkan, while Toman Kumar was defeated 139-148 by China's Zhang Yicheng in the men's compound individual bronze-medal match.

Dharmaraj Solairaj defended his men's long jump title in the combined T44/T62/T64 event with an Asian record leap of 7.15m, produced on his second attempt; the long jumper is described in the source as a 32-year-old from Tamil Nadu. Shailesh Kumar led a sweep for India in the men's high jump T63, clearing a Games-record 1.89m, with Varun Bhati taking silver on a season-best 1.84m and Rahul securing bronze at 1.81m.

Suvarna Raj captured gold in the women's discus F54 with a best throw of 15.66m, registering four throws beyond 15 metres and producing her winning effort on her fifth attempt; Iran's Shahla Hadidi took silver with 15.45m and Vietnam's Thi Ngoc Thuy Nguyen claimed bronze with 14.65m. In the men's javelin F56/F57, Parveen Kumar finished fifth with a best of 42.80m while Uzbekistan's Yorkinbek Odilov won gold with an Asian Para Games record of 50.41m, followed by Talantbek Kurbonov (48.81m) and Iran's Amnollah Papi (48.07m).

On the track, Anjanaben Bumbadiya won the women's 400m T47 in 59.97 seconds with Jayanti Behera second in 1:00.65 and Thailand's Sasirawan Inthachot third in 1:02.58; after the race Bumbadiya said, “This is just my second international competition and to have won a gold here gives me immense happiness. All I wanted to do was give my best and I am happy I could do it in this event.” Tejalben Damor took silver in the women's 400m T12 in 57.60 seconds, adding to the bronze she earned in the women's 200m T12. Dilip Gavit won the men's 100m T46/T47 combined event in 10.69 seconds, with Mohammed Morssinganakath Basil second in 10.72 and China's Kangjun Shi third in 10.80; Pranav Desai claimed bronze in the men's 100m T64 in 11.96, behind Japan's Kengo Oshima (11.39) and Thailand's Denpoom Kotcharang (11.78). Preeti Pal earned silver in the women's 100m T35 in 13.98 seconds, her second silver of the Games after the 200m T35.

In the pool, teenage para swimmer Ravi Karthik Budigina completed a hat-trick of medals by taking bronze in the men's 50m freestyle S13 in 25.89 seconds, having earlier won silver in the men's S13 100m backstroke and 100m freestyle. Kapil Kumar won silver in the men's 400m freestyle S10 in 4:38.44, finishing behind Japan's Akito Minai, who set a Games record of 4:27.44; Swatik Patil took bronze in the men's 100m breaststroke SB9 in 1:13.77 and Tejas Nandakumar finished third in the men's 100m backstroke S7 in 1:18.58, bringing India's swimming medal total to 10 though a pool gold remained elusive.

India were guaranteed gold and silver in the men's singles SL3 badminton after Pramod Bhagat recovered from a game down to defeat South Korea's Lee Seunghu 16-21, 21-18, 21-17 in a two-hour-and-nine-minute semifinal and set up a final against compatriot Nitesh Kumar, who beat Indonesia's M Imran 21-19, 21-16 in 52 minutes. Nitesh also reached the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 final with Thulasimathi Murugesan, defeating China's Li Mingpin and Xiao Zuxian 21-19, 14-21, 21-17 in a 42-minute semifinal; Naveen Sivakumar advanced to the men's singles SL4 final with a 21-13, 21-15 win over Abhijeet Sakhuja, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan reached the women's singles SH6 final by beating China's Lin Shuangbao, and Thulasimathi booked a place in the women's singles SU5 final with a 19-21, 21-15, 21-13 victory over Manisha Ramdass. India also collected five bronze medals across badminton events and Bhavina Patel with Shubham Wadhwa secured bronze in mixed doubles XD7 table tennis after a 6-11, 11-8, 5-11, 8-11 semifinal defeat to South Korea's Jang Yeongjin and Lee Migyu, having beaten Japan's Kimie Bessho and Masanori Uno 11-9, 11-3, 11-6 in the quarterfinals.

India's overall medal tally reached 88 on October 22, 2026, comprising 21 gold, 26 silver and 41 bronze, with para-athletics contributing 52 medals — 18 gold, 16 silver and 18 bronze — to the total.