India’s Best Day Yet at the Asian Games: A Medal Rush on Day 8

If you’ve been following India’s Asian Games campaign since our earlier coverage, September 27 — Day 8 of competition in Aichi-Nagoya — was the day the medal count genuinely surged. Athletics, squash, boxing, and hockey all delivered in the same 24-hour window, even as one of India’s biggest badminton hopes saw her singles campaign end early.

The squash story: two silvers, and an Olympic door still open

India went into Sunday with genuine gold medal hopes in squash, with both Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh reaching their respective singles finals at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena. Anahat, who’d fought back from behind to beat Japan’s world No. 6 Satomi Watanabe in the semifinals, faced Malaysia’s world No. 5 and reigning champion Sivasangari Subramaniam in the final. Abhay, coming off a comfortable semifinal win over Pakistan’s Irfan Muhammad, took on Malaysia’s Ng Eain Yow, another reigning champion.

Both Indians came up just short, with Anahat and Abhay each claiming silver rather than gold. It’s still a genuinely strong result worth putting in context: this is Anahat Singh’s third consecutive Asian Games medal campaign, and squash carries extra significance this cycle specifically — men’s and women’s singles champions at these Games can secure direct qualification quotas for the LA 2028 Olympics, where squash makes its Olympic debut, subject to being ranked inside the PSA world top 50 by May 22, 2028. A silver-medal run at this level keeps both Indian players firmly in that qualification conversation heading toward 2028.

Athletics delivered India’s biggest single-day haul

This is where Sunday really turned into a landmark day for India’s campaign. Ancy Sojan won silver in the women’s long jump, while Sarvesh Kushare took silver in the men’s high jump. Tejaswin Shankar, who’d carried an 88-point lead into the decathlon’s final day hoping to convert it into gold, ultimately settled for bronze after a closely fought final stretch across the discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500m — finishing with 6,571 points, trailing Japan’s Yuma Maruyama by 284 points and China’s Chen Xinghua by 138. Parul Chaudhary added another bronze in the women’s 3000m steeplechase.

‍‍‍ One of the highlights of the day in the women’s 200 meter race was when Harita Bhadra won the bronze on a photo finish. Her time of 23.20 seconds only beat the fourth-place finisher by 0.01 seconds. Such is the difference at these levels in the competition that a single hundredth of a second may determine whether an athlete is a medallist or not. ‍‍‍

Boxing and hockey add to the momentum

India’s boxing campaign moved forward with three quarterfinal wins on the same day: Parveen Hooda beat Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor Khamidova in the women’s 65kg category, Ankush Panghal defeated Tajikistan’s Nekruz Salimov in the men’s 80kg class, and Narender Berwal got past Thailand’s Adthapong Saengtep in the men’s +90kg division — all three results guaranteeing India at least three more medals once the later rounds play out, since Asian Games boxing awards bronze to both losing semifinalists.

On the hockey pitch, India’s women’s team delivered a dominant 7-0 win over Singapore in their pool match, continuing their title defense with a statement scoreline — exactly the kind of result that builds momentum heading into the tournament’s knockout stages.

The setback: PV Sindhu’s campaign ends

Not every story from Sunday was a positive one. PV Sindhu, one of India’s headline names heading into these Games, was knocked out in the women’s singles badminton quarterfinals, losing a tight three-set match 2-1 (11-21, 21-18, 21-10) to world No. 4 Chen Yufei of China. Her exit closes out India’s individual badminton medal hopes for these Games, leaving the team’s only badminton medal as the bronze secured earlier in the men’s team event. It’s a genuinely disappointing result for a two-time Olympic medallist who’d headlined India’s badminton campaign coming in, and a reminder that even strong overall team performances at a multi-sport Games can come with individual disappointments along the way.

What’s still in play?

Sunday‍‍‍ surely was not the day when India could say goodbye to potential medal wins.

While on that very day, the archery teams of India were advancing as well, i.e., the men’s recurve team had defeated the Philippines 5-1, going through to the quarterfinals; similarly, the women’s recurve team had crushed their opponents Mongolia 6-0 and will be joined by the quarterfinals shortly.

Shooter Esha Singh took over the sixth spot in the women’s 25m pistol qualification after precision round and has a fighting chance to move to the next stage.

In men’s boxing, only disappointment of the discipline was Sachin Siwach who lost to Japan’s Shunsuke Kitamoto in the ‍‍‍quarters.

Looking ahead, India’s campaign has more packed days coming, with the men’s hockey team beginning its own title defense and further shooting and athletics medal opportunities still on the calendar as the Games continue through October 4.

Why Sunday actually matters for India’s final tally?

Day 8 is a genuinely useful data point for anyone tracking how India’s overall Asian Games campaign is shaping up, precisely because it’s the first day where athletics — traditionally India’s single largest medal-producing discipline — fully delivered at volume: five athletics medals in one day alone (two silver, three bronze), on top of two squash silvers, and boxing quarterfinal wins guaranteeing at least three more medals still to come. If this pace from athletics continues through the discipline’s remaining events, it’s a strong signal that India’s overall tally is likely to climb substantially from where it stood earlier in the Games, even with individual setbacks like Sindhu’s early exit factored in.

Medal counts and results update continuously through October 4. Check the Indian Olympic Association’s official tracker for the latest confirmed results.