20 Hangzhou golds gone, 13 new routes to gold: How India’s Asian Games medal map modified

NEW DELHI: India received 28 gold medals on the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. Four years later, the query in Aichi-Nagoya was what number of of these titles it may retain. The reply? – Eight, out of the 28 Hangzhou golds. That’s 28.6 per cent of the full. Twenty titles modified fingers.The largest adjustments got here within the sports activities that had pushed India’s document marketing campaign in Hangzhou. All seven taking pictures golds have been misplaced, whereas all six athletics titles modified fingers and, India additionally didn’t retain both of its two particular person compound archery golds.But simply the gold-medal rely doesn’t inform the entire story. India retained the three compound group archery titles, each kabaddi golds, each cricket titles and the boys’s hockey crown.The different golds got here from a special mixture of occasions and athletes. Some had received silver or bronze in Hangzhou and moved as much as gold in Japan. Others received titles in occasions the place India had not been on the rostrum 4 years earlier.So whereas 20 of India’s 28 Hangzhou champions didn’t retain their titles, the gold medals themselves have been changed from a a lot wider pool. The Aichi-Nagoya marketing campaign, in that sense, was much less about defending the Hangzhou haul and extra about how India’s medal map had modified in 4 years.

Shooting: from seven golds in Hangzhou to 3 in Aichi-Nagoya

While Shooting had produced seven golds and 22 medals for India at Hangzhou, In Aichi-Nagoya, the general medal tally fell to fifteen. The gold rely dropped from seven to 3, whereas silver moved from 9 to eight and bronze from six to 4. The largest change was that none of India’s seven Hangzhou golds was defended in the identical occasion.Instead, India discovered gold elsewhere. Neeru Dhanda received the ladies’s lure particular person title after which partnered Kynan Chenai to win blended lure. Kamaljeet and Suruchi Singh added the blended 10m air pistol gold.The rifle groups that had delivered two of India’s Hangzhou golds – males’s 10m air rifle and males’s 50m rifle 3 Positions – returned with silver in Japan. There was additionally a brand new medal in blended skeet. Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Parinaaz Dhaliwal received bronze, giving India its first Asian Games medal within the occasion.So whereas India’s taking pictures haul was smaller in Aichi-Nagoya, the change was not simply within the numbers. The seven golds from Hangzhou have been gone, and the three titles in Japan got here from a special set of occasions.

Athletics: The medals stayed, the golds disappeared

While India received 29 athletics medals in Hangzhou, Four years later, the tally in Aichi-Nagoya was 24. The greater change, although, got here within the gold rely.Six golds in Hangzhou grew to become one in Japan and that lone title got here within the ladies’s 4x400m relay, 4 years after India’s males’s relay group had received gold in Hangzhou. Silver medals fell from 14 to 9, whereas bronze medals elevated from 9 to 14.There was nonetheless loads of continuity amongst India’s medallists. Murali Sreeshankar once more received silver within the lengthy leap. Tajinderpal Singh Toor, the Hangzhou gold medallist, completed with silver this time. Tejaswin Shankar moved from silver to bronze within the decathlon, whereas Ancy Sojan retained her long-jump silver.Vithya Ramraj once more received bronze within the 400m hurdles. Gulveer Singh improved on his Hangzhou efficiency within the 10,000m, shifting from bronze to silver. He additionally added silver within the 1500m and bronze within the 5000m.So the athletics podium didn’t disappear in Aichi-Nagoya. India nonetheless received 23 medals exterior gold. The distinction was that performances that had produced six titles in Hangzhou produced just one gold 4 years later.

Archery: The tally stays the identical, however in several occasions

India matched its Hangzhou tally in archery, profitable 9 medals once more – 5 gold, two silver and two bronze. The medal distribution, nonetheless, modified significantly.The three compound group golds have been retained and past these occasions, India had a special set of medal-winning performances in Aichi-Nagoya, notably within the ladies’s recurve occasions.Kumkum Mohod received particular person recurve gold, whereas the ladies’s recurve group moved from bronze in Hangzhou to gold in Japan. That left the general numbers unchanged, however the occasions behind these numbers have been completely different.The particular person compound occasions additionally noticed a change. India had received medals in each the boys’s and girls’s particular person compound occasions in Hangzhou. In Aichi-Nagoya, the boys’s particular person compound occasion was the notable hole.

Boxing: From no gold in Hangzhou to 3 in Aichi-Nagoya

Boxing went in the wrong way to taking pictures and athletics. India had returned from Hangzhou with 4 medals – one silver and three bronze – however no gold, however In Aichi-Nagoya, the haul rose to 6, together with three gold medals.Lovlina Borgohain upgraded her silver within the ladies’s 75kg class in 2023, to gold 4 years later, whereas Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal added two extra titles in classes the place India had not received gold at Hangzhou. The bronze tally remained unchanged at three.

Wrestling: Six medals once more, however two golds this time

Wrestling additionally completed with six medals, the identical tally as Hangzhou. But the distribution modified utterly. India had received one silver and 5 bronze medals in 2022, and not using a gold. In Aichi-Nagoya, that grew to become two golds, two silvers and two bronze medals.Aman Sehrawat and Sujeet Kalkal equipped the 2 freestyle golds, whereas Nitesh, added a historic silver in Greco-Roman, and Antim Panghal upgraded her bronze from the 2022 Games to silver in 2026.The bronze tally fell from 5 to 2 (Sunil Kumar and Deepak Punia), however India added two golds and one silver.

Squash: Five medals once more, however each golds are gone

Squash completed with 5 medals in each Hangzhou and Aichi-Nagoya. But the 2 golds from 2022 have been gone.India’s tally modified from two gold, one silver and two bronze to 2 silver and three bronze. Abhay Singh retained the boys’s singles silver, changing Saurav Ghosal on the rostrum. Anahat Singh added a ladies’s singles medal.The males’s group and blended doubles titles from Hangzhou slipped to bronze in Japan. The ladies’s group retained its bronze, whereas the mixed-team bronze was not repeated. The total medal rely stayed at 5. The two golds didn’t.

Kabaddi & Cricket: Four titles, no change

India had received all 4 golds out there throughout the 2 sports activities in Hangzhou – the boys’s and girls’s cricket titles and the boys’s and girls’s kabaddi titles and it repeated that sweep in Japan.In the kabaddi double, each Indian groups got here by means of in opposition to Iran within the finals, with the ladies profitable 37-34 and the boys 40-34. For the ladies’s group, the victory prolonged a formidable Asian Games document. India has now received the ladies’s kabaddi gold at each version it has entered besides the 2018 Jakarta Games, when Iran took the title and India settled for silver. The 2026 victory was subsequently its fourth gold in 5 appearances.The males’s aspect has a fair longer document. India’s 40-34 win over Iran was its ninth Asian Games gold within the males’s occasion throughout 10 editions. The solely time it didn’t win the title was in 2018, when Iran took gold. India had returned to the highest at Hangzhou and retained the crown in Nagoya.Cricket adopted with its personal repeat. India’s ladies’s group opened the 2026 Games by defending the title it had received at Hangzhou, beating Sri Lanka within the closing. The males’s group then accomplished the cricket double on October 3, beating Pakistan to retain the boys’s gold as properly.

Hockey: Men’s gold defended, ladies’s bronze was gold

Hockey produced two very completely different tales in Aichi-Nagoya. The males’s gold was defended. The ladies’s bronze grew to become gold.For the boys’s group, the 2026 title was important past the medal itself. India beat Malaysia 5-1 within the closing to retain the Asian Games crown for the primary time, changing into solely the second nation after Pakistan to win consecutive males’s hockey golds. The victory additionally secured direct qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.The ladies’s title was a special story altogether. India had completed with bronze in Hangzhou. In Japan, it beat defending champions China 1-0 to win the Asian Games gold for the primary time since 1982. The victory ended a 44-year look ahead to gold and in addition secured direct qualification for LA 2028.It additionally produced a primary for Indian hockey on the Asian Games. For the primary time, each the boys’s and girls’s groups received gold on the identical version.

Golf: A brand new gold, and a brand new first for Indian ladies

At Hangzhou, Aditi Ashok received silver, giving India its first ladies’s golf medal on the Asian Games. Four years later, Pranavi Urs went one higher.She received particular person gold, changing into the primary Indian lady to win an Asian Games golf title. Urs then joined Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar to win India’s first ladies’s group medal within the sport. India’s total golf haul doubled from one medal in Hangzhou to 2 in Aichi-Nagoya.The particular person gold additionally ended a 24-year look ahead to India. Shiv Kapur had received the boys’s title in 2002; Pranavi grew to become the primary Indian golfer since then to win a person Asian Games gold.

Sailing: Three medals once more, however completely different occasionsSailing produced the identical variety of medals in each editions. India received three medals in Hangzhou and three once more in Aichi-Nagoya. But the occasions behind these medals modified.Two new skiff occasions produced podium finishes in Japan, changing the boys’s windsurfer and males’s dinghy medals from Hangzhou. The ladies’s dinghy medal additionally modified color, from silver to bronze.

Badminton: Three medals grew to become one

Badminton noticed one among India’s largest drops between Hangzhou and Aichi-Nagoya. The medal tally fell from three to at least one. India’s 2022 haul included Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s males’s doubles gold, the boys’s group silver and HS Prannoy’s singles bronze.Four years later, the boys’s group remained India’s solely podium finisher. But even that medal modified color, with the silver changing into bronze.Neither of the 2 particular person medals from Hangzhou was defended. There was no particular person podium end in Aichi-Nagoya, leaving India with only one medal from a sport that had produced three within the earlier version.

Rowing: Five medals fell to at least one

Rowing’s fall was much more pronounced. Five medals in Hangzhou grew to become one bronze in Aichi-Nagoya. In 2022, India had taken two silver and three bronze medals throughout 5 occasions. In Japan, solely Satnam Singh and Salman Khan’s males’s double sculls reached the rostrum.None of the 5 occasions that had delivered medals at Hangzhou did so once more. And the build-up itself was unsettled, with last-minute adjustments to crew mixtures and occasion entries. Arvind Singh, a 2022 silver medallist within the light-weight double sculls, was moved into the quadruple sculls, whereas Balraj Panwar shifted from the quadruple to the one sculls.

Tennis: Two medals grew to become none, and a 36-year streak ended

Tennis went from two medals in Hangzhou to none in Aichi-Nagoya. The greater change was the tip of India’s 36-year medal streak on the Asian Games.India had continued to search out tennis medals throughout completely different generations, from Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi to Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna and the present doubles gamers. That run resulted in Japan.India had three quarterfinal alternatives however couldn’t convert any of them right into a medal. Sumit Nagal went out within the singles quarterfinals, whereas India didn’t have a ladies’s singles entry. The outcome was India’s first medal-less Asian Games tennis marketing campaign since 1986.

Equestrian: Two medals grew to become none

Equestrian went from two medals in Hangzhou to none in Aichi-Nagoya. India had received one gold and one bronze in 2022. There was no podium end this time.The marketing campaign was additionally affected by choice disputes, the absence of an accredited show-jumping group and a setback in eventing. The outcome was a whole reversal from Hangzhou, with a two-medal haul turning into none in Japan.

MMA and Soft Tennis: Two new entries on India’s medal map

Aichi-Nagoya additionally added two new sports activities to India’s Asian Games medal checklist. Suchika Tariyal received bronze within the ladies’s conventional MMA 60kg class, giving India its first Asian Games medal in blended martial arts.Jay Meena added one other first in comfortable tennis, profitable bronze in males’s singles. For Meena, the medal got here after two earlier Asian Games appearances and not using a podium end. He had competed on the 2018 and 2022 Games however returned and not using a medal on each events. In Nagoya, he lastly reached the rostrum.Neither medal changed a gold misplaced from Hangzhou. They got here from sports activities that had not beforehand contributed an Asian Games medal to India.

Weightlifting: 28 years later, Mirabai completes the gathering

Weightlifting produced one other long-gap story. Mirabai Chanu’s silver within the ladies’s 49kg class was India’s first Asian Games weightlifting medal since Karnam Malleswari’s silver at Bangkok 1998.There was additionally a private milestone. Chanu had Olympic and World Championship medals and Commonwealth Games titles, however an Asian Games medal had remained lacking. The silver in Nagoya accomplished the gathering.

Kurash: Back on the rostrum

India had not received a kurash medal on the earlier Asian Games. Pincky Balhara put the game again on India’s medal checklist in Aichi-Nagoya, profitable bronze within the ladies’s -78kg class. It was a return to the rostrum reasonably than a title defence, including one other sport to India’s 2026 medal tally.Wushu, Table Tennis, sepak takraw: Medals from the broader disciplineWushu once more produced a medal by means of Roshibina Devi, who received silver within the ladies’s 60kg sanda – her third Asian Games medal.Table tennis added bronze by means of Diya Chitale and Manush Shah in blended doubles, whereas World No.3 males’s pair of Manush Shah and Manav Thakar flattered to deceive.India additionally retained its bronze in sepak takraw, with the boys’s quadrant group ending on the rostrum once more.The different aspect: Four sports activities drop out of India’s medal checklistThe Hangzhou-to-Aichi-Nagoya comparability additionally has a special aspect. Some sports activities that had contributed medals in 2022 didn’t produce one in Japan.Chess, bridge, curler sports activities and canoeing had collectively contributed six medals to India’s Hangzhou tally – two silver in chess, one silver in bridge, two bronze in curler sports activities and one bronze in canoeing. None of these 4 sports activities have been a part of the Aichi-Nagoya programme.

Firsts for India at Asian Games 2026

The altering medal map additionally confirmed up within the variety of firsts India recorded in Aichi-Nagoya.

The gold rush was not merely a repeat

Thirteen of India’s 2026 gold medals got here from occasions during which India had both received silver or bronze at Hangzhou, or had not received a medal in any respect. That included three taking pictures golds.The blended 10m air pistol moved from silver to gold, whereas Neeru Dhanda received the ladies’s particular person lure and blended lure titles in occasions the place India had not received gold in Hangzhou.Athletics produced one other improve, with the ladies’s 4x400m relay shifting from silver to gold.Archery’s ladies’s recurve group went from bronze to gold, whereas Kumkum Mohod added the person recurve title.Boxing produced three extra. Lovlina Borgohain moved from silver to gold within the ladies’s 75kg class. Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal received titles in classes the place India had not taken gold in Hangzhou.Wrestling adopted the identical sample. Sujeet Kalkal received the boys’s 65kg title, whereas Aman Sehrawat moved from bronze in 2022 to gold within the 57kg class.In golf, Pranavi Urs turned Aditi Ashok’s ladies’s particular person silver from Hangzhou into gold. Women’s hockey accomplished one other main improve, shifting from bronze in Hangzhou to gold in Aichi-Nagoya.

Taken collectively, these 13 golds clarify why the 2026 marketing campaign can’t be judged just by counting what number of Hangzhou champions retained their titles.India did lose 20 of its 28 Hangzhou golds, however a number of of these losses have been changed by athletes who had completed decrease on the rostrum in 2022, or had not reached it in any respect.The indisputable fact that India defended solely eight of its 28 Hangzhou golds doesn’t imply the 2026 marketing campaign merely changed the earlier one with a broader or higher mannequin. Hangzhou had a heavy focus of gold on the high. Shooting received seven. Athletics received six. Archery received 5. Together, these three disciplines accounted for 18 of India’s 28 gold medals in 2022. That made Hangzhou’s medal profile very completely different from Aichi-Nagoya.And the disciplines that misplaced essentially the most golds in Japan didn’t disappear from the rostrum. Shooting remained one among India’s largest medal contributors with 15 medals. Athletics produced 24, whereas archery matched its Hangzhou complete of 9. So the change was not that India’s conventional strengths stopped producing medals. They merely produced fewer golds.