Asian Games Day 7: India’s Medal Tally Hits 23 As Shooting Gold, Athletics Medals Roll In
India enjoyed another action-packed day at the Asian Games on Friday, adding six medals and producing major breakthroughs across shooting, athletics, table tennis and squash, even as defending badminton champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered a shock first-round exit. India ended Day 7 with 23 medals, two gold, nine silver and 12 bronze.
The day began with shooting glory as Kamaljeet and Suruchi Singh won gold in the 10m air pistol mixed-team event. The pair scored 484.6 in the final, beating South Korea by 6.6 points for India's second gold of the Games and its first shooting gold. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudrankksh Patil and Niraj Kumar then added silver in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions team event.
Athletics added three more medals. Gulveer Singh won silver in the men's 10,000m in 28:29.38, while Manpreet Kaur took bronze in the women's shot put with a 17.17m effort. Baranica Elangovan created history by winning India's first Asian Games medal in women's pole vault, taking bronze after clearing 4.15m.
Table tennis also produced a medal as Manush Shah and Diya Chitale won bronze in mixed doubles. In squash, Anahat Singh reached the women's singles semifinal after beating compatriot Tanvi Khanna, while Abhay Singh also entered the men's singles semifinal. Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar assured another mixed-doubles medal.
On the team front, India's women's hockey side defeated hosts Japan 3-1, with goals from Lalremsiami, Ishika Chaudhary and Navneet Kaur, to enter the semifinal. Both kabaddi teams also reached the finals: the women beat Nepal 48-24, while the men defeated Thailand 66-28, putting India within one win of a potential kabaddi gold-medal double.
But badminton delivered the day's biggest disappointment. Defending men's doubles champions Satwik and Chirag were knocked out in the opening round, losing to Thailand's Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun 12-21, 21-19, 21-14. Other Indian badminton players progressed, with Unnati Hooda winning her opening singles match, while Tanisha Crasto-Dhruv Kapila advanced in mixed doubles.
In boxing, Sachin reached the 60kg quarterfinals with a 4-1 win over former Asian champion Mohammad Abu Jajeh. In swimming, Sajan Prakash qualified for the 200m butterfly final. India also saw exits in fencing, while surfing, equestrian, canoe sprint and esports featured Indian participation.
It was therefore a day of contrasting fortunes: two golds secured overall, a growing athletics haul and several finals ahead, but a major badminton setback in the exit of Satwik-Chirag.