Aichi-Nagoya: Indian athletes’ impressive performance continues at the Asian Para Games 2026. India’s medal tally increased to 24 on Tuesday, with 5 gold, 8 silver, and 11 bronze medals. However, Indian para-powerlifter Jhandu Kumar, who won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, finished fifth in the final of the men’s up-to-72 kg category.
Jhandu Kumar made headlines three months ago by winning a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. However, he failed to perform his best at the Asian Para Games. He lifted 190 kg, while both attempts at 195 kg failed.
Malaysia’s Bony Bunyau won the gold medal in this event, lifting 225 kg. China’s Zhang Pingkang won the silver medal with 212 kg, and Iran’s Mohsen Bakhtiar won the bronze medal with 208 kg.
Himanshu Nandal wins bronze in Para-Swimming
Indian para-swimmer Himanshu Nandal won the bronze medal in the men’s 400m freestyle S11 category on Tuesday. He finished third in the four-man final with a time of 5 minutes 10.91 seconds.
Japan’s Uchu Tomita won the silver medal, while China’s Chuanzhen Sun won the gold medal. Sun also set an Asian record.
This was India’s second medal in para-swimming at this edition. Earlier, Ravi Karthik Budigina had won the silver medal in the men’s 100m freestyle S13 event. However, he finished sixth in the men’s 400m freestyle S13 event with a time of 5 minutes 41.70 seconds.
Sheetal Devi and Payal Nag reach gold medal match
India’s Sheetal Devi and Payal Nag put on a stellar performance to advance to the final of the women’s doubles para-compound archery event. The Indian pair defeated Thailand’s Phaniba Srathongmaw and Vasana Khuthavisap 151-135 in the semi-finals.
The Indian pair will now face China in the gold medal match on October 21st at 5:55 am (IST).
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) announced this achievement on social media, stating that Sheetal Devi and Payal Nag have assured India another medal with a strong performance. Both athletes will now enter the final with the intention of converting this into gold.
Srishti Arora and Manish Narwal win medals in shooting
Indian shooter Srishti Arora won the bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol SH1 category. She finished third in the final with 214.7 points.
Iran’s Sareh Javanmardi won the silver medal with 237.0 points, and Faezeh Ahmadi won the gold medal with 237.3 points.
Paralympic medalist Manish Narwal won the silver medal in the men’s 10m air pistol SH1 category with 233.7 points. South Korea’s Jo Jeongdoo won the gold medal with 241.3 points, while China’s Yang Chao finished third.
Manish finished fifth in the qualification round but returned to medal contention with a 49.8 in the second series of the final. Meanwhile, Indian shooter Rudraksh Khandelwal finished seventh. Despite finishing second in the qualification, he couldn’t get off to a good start in the final.
Rudraksh also secured India a quota for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.
Medals for India in Para-Powerlifting and Table Tennis
In Para-Table Tennis, Jehan Madan won the silver medal in the men’s singles Class 1 event. He finished fourth in a field of five. He defeated his Indian opponent, Sandeep Dangi, and earned the medal based on his performance.
In Para-Powerlifting, Ashok won the silver medal in the men’s 65 kg category by lifting 192 kg. Zhou Yi of China won the gold medal by lifting 216 kg.
Indian players’ impressive performance in Para-Table Tennis
India’s Baby Sahana Ravi and Prachi Pandey won bronze medals in the women’s singles Class 9 and Class 6 events.
Baby Sahana lost 0-3 (8-11, 2-11, 4-11) to Mao Jingdian of China in the Class 9 semi-finals. Despite this, she won the bronze medal. Her medal marked India’s first medal at the Asian Para Games in the standing category of para table tennis.
Prachi Pandey was defeated by Najla Al-Dayani of Iraq in straight games, 11-9, 11-2, and 11-8, in the Class 6 semi-finals. She also had to settle for the bronze medal.
With these two medals, India secured four medals in para table tennis on a single day.
Earlier, Bhavina Patel won the bronze medal after losing 7-11, 5-11, 7-11 to Zhang Bian of China in the women’s singles Class 4-5 semi-finals. Bhavina won the silver medal at the 2020 Paralympics.
Meanwhile, Sonalben Patel won the bronze medal in the women’s singles Class 3. She was defeated by South Korea’s Eun Ji-yu 11-7, 11-5, and 11-6 in the semi-finals.
India also won medals in javelin throw and shot put
In addition to para-table tennis, Pradeep Kumar won silver and Ayush Verma won bronze in the men’s javelin throw F53/F54 event. Praveen Sharma won bronze in the men’s shot put F11 event.
The best performances of the day