India strike gold in shooting, make pole vault history in six-medal Asian Games day

Historic bronze and record gold cap a memorable Friday for India

NEW DELHI — India rewrote its athletics history books and finally struck shooting gold on a packed Friday at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, collecting six medals in a single day to take the contingent's overall tally to 23 — two gold, nine silver and 12 bronze.

The landmark moment came in the women's pole vault, where Baranica Elangovan became the first Indian athlete — man or woman — to win an Asian Games medal in the discipline, clearing 4.15m to share the bronze with Kazakhstan's Polina Ivanova.

Shooting finally strikes gold

India's wait for a shooting gold at these Games ended in spectacular fashion as Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet dominated the 10m air pistol mixed team final. The Indian pair combined for a Games and Asian record total of 484.6 — Suruchi contributing 245.7 and Kamaljeet 238.9 — as they led from start to finish.

The gold provided a timely boost to India's shooting campaign, which had endured disappointment across several 10m events earlier in the competition.

India also secured silver in the men's 50m rifle 3-position team event through Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudrankksh Patil and Niraj Kumar. Their aggregate of 1762 left them four points adrift of China, who finished on 1766. Aishwary and Niraj also reached the individual final, finishing fifth and eighth respectively.

Baranica makes pole vault history

Baranica cleared 4.15m to finish joint third in the women's pole vault final. Kazakhstan's Ivanova also cleared 4.15m, and the two athletes were level on attempts before both failed to clear 4.25m. With neither able to improve and the pair tied on the countback, they shared the bronze medal.

The result marked a first for Indian athletics at the continental showpiece, with Baranica becoming the country's first medallist in pole vault. Compatriot Sindhusree Ganesha, meanwhile, finished without a valid mark, failing to clear 3.85m in two attempts before also missing at 4m.

Gulveer upgrades to silver; Manpreet adds shot put bronze

Long-distance runner Gulveer Singh added another athletics medal, upgrading the bronze he won in the men's 10,000m at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou to silver. The 28-year-old clocked 28:29.38 to finish behind Bahrain's Birhanu Balew, who produced a late surge to win gold in 28:27.51. Balew's compatriot Albert Kiptoo took bronze in 28:34.38.

A Naib Subedar in the Indian Army, Gulveer stayed with the leading pack for much of the race and remained in medal contention deep into the final stages before Balew pulled clear. The result continues a remarkable run of form: he won gold in both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships, and at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow became the first Indian to win two track medals at a single edition — silver in the 10,000m and bronze in the 5,000m.

India's other athletics bronze came from Manpreet Kaur in the women's shot put final, with a best throw of 17.17m to finish third. Compatriot Krishna Jayasankar Menon was fifth with 16.57m, while China's Jiayoan Song won gold with 19.40m and Linru Zhang took silver with 18.14m.

Badminton setback, squash and kabaddi boost

The day was not without disappointment. Defending badminton champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered a shock first-round exit, losing 21-12, 19-21, 14-21 to Thailand's Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun.

"It's the mental part. Whenever we are mentally free, I think no one can beat us. But when we are stuck anywhere, we give opponents a chance to beat us," Satwik said after the defeat.

There was better news elsewhere. India's men's and women's kabaddi sides stormed into their respective finals, keeping two more gold medals within reach. In squash, India assured themselves of three medals — Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar entered the mixed doubles semifinals, while Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh advanced to the last four in the women's and men's singles respectively. Anahat defeated compatriot Tanvi Khanna 11-2, 11-5, 11-3, while Abhay beat Japan's Ryonosuke Tsukue 11-4, 11-3, 11-6.

India also secured a bronze in table tennis mixed doubles through Manush Shah and Diya Chitale, who lost their semifinal to China's Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha. The women's hockey side continued its unbeaten run with a 3-1 win over hosts Japan, while boxer Sachin Siwach advanced to the men's 60kg quarterfinals. In athletics, Kiran and Prachi secured places in the women's 400m final, while Vishal TK advanced to the men's 400m final.