Neeru’s Gold, Relay Glory and Nine Medals: India’s Big Day at the Asian Games

India produced one of its busiest and most successful days at the Asian Games, collecting medals across shooting, athletics and boxing while also advancing in several team and individual competitions.

The headline performance came from Neeru Dhanda, who followed her women’s trap team silver with gold in the individual event. Athletics also delivered a series of medals, including gold in the women’s 4x400m relay, bronze for Pooja in the women’s high jump, bronze in the mixed 4x100m relay, bronze for Gulveer Singh in the men’s 5000m and bronze in the men’s 4x400m relay.

India also secured places in multiple boxing gold-medal bouts, while the men’s volleyball team produced a dramatic 3-2 victory over Qatar.

Neeru Dhanda was the standout name in shooting. After helping India win silver in the women’s trap team event alongside Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer with a combined score of 328 points, Neeru went one step further in the individual competition, winning gold in the women’s trap.

Her individual title caps a remarkable campaign in Nagoya, where her performance had already been central to India’s team medal. India’s men’s trap campaign produced a contrasting result. Shapath Bharadwaj finished eighth in the individual final after becoming the only Indian man to qualify for the medal round. Earlier, Shapath, Kynan Chenai and Ahvar Rizvi had finished sixth in the men’s trap team final. Shapath's eighth-place individual finish nevertheless gave India a finalist in the event.

Athletics produces a string of medals

The track and field programme generated several of India's biggest moments. The women’s 4x400m relay team won gold, providing one of the day's major athletics triumphs. India also secured bronze in the 4x100m mixed relay and bronze in the men’s 4x400m relay, giving the relay programme a three-medal haul across the day's finals.

Gulveer Singh added another individual medal, finishing third in the men's 5000m final. The bronze came after an unusually demanding Asian Games schedule for the Indian distance runner, who had already won silver in both the 10,000m and 1500m. The 5000m bronze therefore completed a three-medal campaign for Gulveer across three very different track events.

In the field events, Pooja won bronze in the women's high jump final. Her medal came after entering the competition as one of the leading performers in the field. There were also fourth- and fifth-place finishes in the women’s hammer throw. Tanya Chaudhary finished fourth, while Anushka Yadav placed fifth. Mohammed Afsal finished eighth in the men's 800m final, while another athlete named Pooja finished seventh in the women's 800m final.

In the men's pole vault, Dev Kumar Meena finished seventh and Kuldeep Kumar tenth. Meena had earlier broken the Indian national record by clearing 5.50m, while his competition eventually ended at 5.60m.

Boxing guarantees more medal opportunities

India's boxing campaign produced two significant victories that ensure gold-medal bouts. Parveen defeated China's Li Shu in the women's 65kg semifinal, booking her place in the gold-medal bout. Ankush Panghal also advanced to the final after defeating Fazliddin Erkinboev of Uzbekistan in the men's 80kg semifinal.

Narender's campaign ended in the men's 90+kg semifinal. He lost to Aibek Oralbay of Kazakhstan, but the semifinal appearance means Narender finishes with a bronze medal. India therefore leaves the boxing session with one confirmed bronze and two athletes through to gold-medal bouts.

India's men's volleyball team produced one of the day's most dramatic results, defeating Qatar 3-2 in their Pool C group match. The victory keeps India's campaign moving after earlier wins in the pool stage and adds another positive result in a competition where every set and match can influence progression.

Archery: Dhiraj and Neeraj reach quarterfinals

India's men's recurve archers both advanced to the quarterfinal stage. Dhiraj Bommadevara defeated the Philippines' Girvin Garcia 6-0 in the round of 32 before beating Chinese Taipei's Cheng Hsiang-Hui 6-2 in the round of 16. Neeraj Chauhan defeated Indonesia's Riau Ega Agata Salsabilla 6-4 in the round of 32 and then produced another 6-4 victory over South Korea's Kim Je-deok in the round of 16.

Both will compete in the quarterfinals on October 3. In women's recurve, Kumkum Mohod won her round-of-16 match, while Kirti was eliminated.

India also advanced in squash, beating Iran 3-0 in the final women's group match to reach the quarterfinals. Tennis produced several wins. Sumit Nagal defeated South Korea's Hong Seongchan in the men's singles second round, while Dhakshineswar Suresh defeated Gunawan Trismuwantara 7-5, 7-6. In men's doubles, Anirudh Chandrasekar and N Sriram Balaji defeated Nepal's Abhishek Bastola and Pradip Khadka 6-2, 6-1. 

In canoe slalom, India's athletes successfully progressed through the heats. Shikha Chouhan finished 11th in women's kayak single, while Hitesh Kewat and Pradhyumna Singh Rathod finished eighth and tenth respectively in the men's event. Pallavi Jagtap and Rina Sen also advanced in women's canoe single after finishing seventh and ninth.

There were setbacks as well. Surfer Kishore Kumar Anbarasu lost 5.37-8.53 to Toby Espejon of the Philippines in the men's shortboard quarterfinal.

India's track cycling teams also missed out on podium finishes, with the men's team sprint finishing seventh, the women's team sprint sixth and the women's team pursuit fifth. India also lost to Chinese Taipei in the women's team sprint Round 1.

Sailing's men's dinghy qualification race involving Vishnu Saravanan was rescheduled for the following day.

In Kurash, Vipin Kumar lost 0-3 to South Korea's Hoon Hyeon-su in the men's 66kg round of 16.

Overall, the day combined gold-medal success, multiple bronze medals and crucial progression across several sports. Neeru's individual shooting gold and India's relay triumphs provided the headline moments, while Gulveer completed his three-medal campaign and boxing ensured further medal opportunities remain ahead.