Asian Games 2026 LIVE: Lovlina, Parveen, Ankush eye gold; India face China in women’s hockey final on Day 13

Indian women's hockey team members celebrate after beating China in the final match and won Gold Medal at the Asian Games in Japan on October 02, 2026. | Photo Credit: R. V. Moorthy

The Indian women’s hockey team humbled defending champions China 1-0 on Friday (October 2, 2026) to win their first Asian Games gold medal in 44 years, securing a direct berth at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The Indians were at their best in defence as they thwarted relentless Chinese attack thereafter, including a penalty stroke save by veteran goalkeeper Savita Punia.

Lovlina Borgohain ended India’s 12-year wait for an Asian Games women’s boxing gold, defeating China’s Ziyi Bao in the 75kg final. Olympic medallist Lovlina defeated Bao by a 5-0 unanimous decision to upgrade the silver she had won at the last edition, where she had lost to another Chinese boxer, Li Qian, in the final. With the win, Lovlina became only the second Indian woman after legendary MC Mary Kom to win an Asian Games boxing gold.

India’s women’s recurve team produced a sensational performance under pressure to stun 10-time Olympic champions South Korea 5-3 and clinch a maiden Asian Games gold medal on Friday (October 2, 2026).

Seasoned campaigner Ankita Bhakat, Kirti Sharma and 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod held their nerve in challenging windy conditions to outshoot the defending champions and script a historic triumph.

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Forty-four years. That’s how long Indian women’s hockey has waited for this moment. Winning the Asian Games, defeating China 1-0 in the final on Friday (October 2, 2026), was the final box ticked for the year by a group that bears no resemblance to the one that started 2026.

India women’s hockey clinched Asian Games gold after 44 years, earning a 1-0 win over China and a 2028 Olympics berth.

Hockey India announces cash award for players, support staff after Asiad gold

Hockey India on Friday announced a cash award of ₹11 lakh for each player and ₹5.5 lakh for each support staff member of the national women’s team after it won a landmark gold medal at the Asian Games in Japan.

India beat defending champions and Olympic silver medallist China 1-0 in the final to win their first gold medal in the competition in 44 years, with Lalremsiami providing the decisive goal.

It was in 1982 edition of the Asian Games when Indian women’s team had won the gold medal last.

HI secretary general Bhola Nath Singh told PTI that each playing member of the Indian team will get ₹11 lakh while member of the support staff will get ₹5.5 lakh each as a reward for their huge achievement.- PTI

Sujeet seals Asian Games gold, beats Olympic champion en route title; Dipanshi loses bronze play-off

Sujeet Kalkal underlined his growing supremacy in the men’s 65kg category by clinching the Asian Games gold here on Friday, defeating an Olympic champion en route to the title and erasing a massive 2-9 deficit in the final to add yet another crown to his tally in a stunning year of domination.

Stronger Iranian and Japanese rivals were expected to make life tough for Sujeet in a tricky draw but it was Tajikistan’s Abdulmazhid Kudiev who tested the Indian most by racing to a 9-2 lead.- PTI

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge congratulates Lovlina Borgohain on winning Asian Games gold medal

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge congratulated Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain on Friday on winning a gold medal in the Asian Games in Japan.

“A historic Gold and a birthday to cherish for our champion @LovlinaBorgohai. Heartiest congratulations to her on winning Gold in the Women’s 75kg Boxing event at the #AsianGames2026. Her dedication, courage and years of hard work continue to bring immense pride to India,” Kharge said in a post on X.

“Wishing her a very happy birthday and many more successes in the years ahead,” the Congress chief added.

Indian men's hockey team eyes historic successive Asiad gold

Indian men’s team will look to bring their ‘A’ game forward in their bid to defend the gold medal as well as book a spot in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, when they take on Malaysia in the Asian Games’ summit clash on Saturday (October 3).

India have never won successive Asian Games gold medals, which makes the final here on Saturday a golden opportunity to write a new chapter in history.

But, for India, who had a wobbly run in the semifinal against arch rivals Pakistan, it will be a challenge to pull up their socks against Malaysia who have remained unbeaten in the Asian Games with five consecutive wins.

Neeru Dhanda to be flag bearer at Asian Games closing

Ace Indian trap shooter Neeru Dhanda will be the women’s flag bearer at the closing ceremony of the Asian Games on Sunday (October 4) after capping a remarkable campaign with two gold medals and a team silver to emerge as one of the most successful athletes at the continental showpiece.

The 27-year-old, who returned to India a day after winning her third medal -- a gold in the trap mixed team event alongside Kynan Chenai -- will travel back to Nagoya on Saturday morning to lead the Indian contingent at the closing ceremony.

“She is returning to Nagoya tomorrow morning to be the woman flag bearer. The decision on the male flag bearer will be taken tomorrow,” deputy chef de mission Anjali Bhagwat said on Friday.

Traffic snarls delay Asian Games women's hockey final by 45 minutes

The start of the women’s hockey final at the Asian Games between India and China was delayed by 45 minutes on Friday (October 2) after the teams’ buses were caught in a traffic snarl on the way to the venue.

An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an accident unrelated to the team buses had triggered the congestion, delaying the players’ arrival at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium, which is hosting both the men’s and women’s hockey competitions.

The match, originally scheduled to start at 7 p.m., will now begin at 7.45 p.m., an announcement at the venue confirmed.

India are up against defending champions China, with a chance to end a 44-year wait for the Asian Games gold and secure direct qualification to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Indian hockey umpire sent back from Asian Games after sexual harassment complaint

On field, the Indian women’s hockey team stepped out to create history against China and win the Asian Games for only the second time and the first since 1982. Off it, yet another international embarrassment rocked Indian hockey with Indian umpires manager Gurinder Singh Sangha being sent home following complaints of misbehaviour and harassment.

While the officials have been tight-lipped refusing to comment anything on the matter, sources confirmed a complaint was received against Sangha from one of the umpires officiating in the competition here.

Hockey India's Gurinder Singh Sangha accused of harassment, sent home amid prior misconduct, international embarrassment for Indian hockey.

Triple punch: Lovlina, Parveen, Ankush strike Asian Games gold

Indian boxers delivered a sensational hat-trick of gold medals at the Asian Games with Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), Parveen Hooda (65kg) and Ankush Panghal (80kg) coming up with contrasting but stirring performances against more fancied opponents in their respective finals on Friday (October 2).

Lovlina and Parveen ended a 12-year wait by joining the legendary MC Mary Kom in the select group of Indian women boxers to have won titles at the continental showpiece. The Manipuri had claimed the flyweight (51kg) gold at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

Ankush then became the first Indian male boxer since Amit Panghal in 2018 to win an Asian Games gold medal.

Boxer Ankush Panghal clinches gold

Indian boxer Ankush Panghal (80kg) clinches gold at Asian Games with 4-0 win over South Korea’s Kim Minseong.

Sujeet claims Asian Games gold, beats Olympic Champion on the way

Sujeet Kalkal underlined his growing supremacy in the men’s 65kg category, clinching the Asian Games gold on Friday (October 2), while defeating an Olympic champion en route to the title to crown a stunning year of domination.

He had already beaten stronger Iranian and Japanese rivals on his way to the final, and there was no doubt that the 23-year-old Sujeet would bag his first Asian Games gold. But Tajikistan’s Abdulmazhid Kudiev made it challenging for the Indian.

Sujeet fell behind 2-9 but scored eight points in a row in a dramatic turnaround for a sensational victory.

Remembering Dhaka 1998: India's assistant coach Kanitkar stresses on winning big moments vs Pakistan

Hrishikesh Kanitkar knows a thing or two about winning clutch moments like he did nearly 30 years back by hitting Saqlain Mushtaq over deep mid-wicket boundary under the not-so-bright Bangabandhu Stadium’s football floodlights during the 1998 Independence Cup final in Dhaka.

On the eve of the Asian Games gold medal match against the arch-rivals, the former left-hander, who is here as the team’s assistant coach, stressed on how important it is to win big moments in a high-stakes final.

“Yeah, so it was more than 20 (28) years ago, but I will take that. It’s very important. The moments are what matters in big games. And our players have done it in the past at various different levels and we’re confident we’ll do it again.

“Virat (Kohli) has done that in 2022 T20 World Cup and Tilak (Verma) did that last year (six off Haris Rauf). But to answer your question, it’s very important to win those crucial moments,” Kanitkar said during the pre-match press conference.

Parveen Hooda wins boxing gold at Asiad

Parveen Hooda eked out a narrow 3-2 split-decision win over Paris Olympic bronze-medallist Chen Nien-chin of Chinese Taipei to claim her maiden Asian Games gold.

Golfer Pranavi Urs takes sole lead in pursuit of Asian Games gold

India’s Pranavi Urs returned a superb four-under 66 in the third round to take a three-stroke lead and place herself in strong contention for an individual gold medal at the Asian Games women’s golf competition on Friday (October 2).

A stroke adrift of Shannon was China’s Yin Ruoning. She signed on a flawless four-under 66 for a total of 11-under 199.

Pranavi’s card was studded with five birdies against a solitary bogey that she dropped on the par-four 14th hole. She played out a blemish-free front-nine, picking up shots on the first, third and eighth holes.

President Murmu hails recurve archers, boxer Lovlina for historic Asian Games medals

President Droupadi Murmu on Friday (October 2) congratulated India’s recurve archers and boxer Lovlina Borgohain for their historic Asian Games medals.

Posting on X for the Indian women’s recurve trio, President Murmu called it “a gold to remember”.

'Her dream is to play in the Olympics,' says Kumkum Mohod's father after Asiad medals in archery

At just 17, Kumkum Mohod has already given her family and hometown Amravati plenty to celebrate at the Asian Games, winning a gold and a silver medal, but her father Anil Mohod says her biggest dream is still ahead — representing India at the Olympics.

“As a father, I feel very proud of my daughter that at just 17 years of age, she has secured a gold medal in the Asian Games and will keep doing even better in the future. Her dream is big right now, and all the credit goes to our Praful Dange sir and Ganesh Jadhav sir, because they supported her at every step and she kept getting exactly what she needed from them,” Anil told ANI on Friday (October 2).

Kumkum was part of the Indian women’s recurve team that scripted history by defeating South Korea 5-3 in the final to win the country’s first-ever medal in the event at the Asian Games. She later teamed up with Dhiraj Bommadevara to win silver in the mixed recurve team event after India lost 3-5 to China in the final.

Fourth time lucky: Sailor Nethra Kumanan claims bronze in Asian Games women's dinghy

India’s Nethra Kumanan on Friday (October 2) clinched the bronze medal in the women’s dinghy event of the Asian Games sailing competition, securing her first podium finish at the continental showpiece in her fourth appearance.

The 29-year-old two-time Olympian from Chennai logged 14 points in all (7 in final and 7 from qualification races) to be placed third behind gold-winner Sophia Montgomery (5) of Thailand and silver-medallist Jania Ang (13) of Singapore.

“Very mixed feelings. It was my fourth Asian Games, and it is nice to finally be able to go away with something, but I made a lot of mistakes and gave away a lot of points,” Nethra said about her performance.

India settle for bronze in Sepaktakraw, lose to Japan in men's semifinal

The Indian team went down fighting 0-2 to host Japan in the men’s quadrant semifinals to settle for a bronze medal in the Sepaktakraw competition of the Asian Games.

India lost the last four matches 12-15, 13-15.

The second set was more intense, with the Indian team fighting hard but keeping trailing Japan throughout, even narrowing the difference to 13-14 in the final stages.

India had earlier won each of their Group A matches to top the group defeating Laos (2-0), Vietnam (2-0) and Myanmar (2-1).

On the other hand, Japan had finished second in Group B, having started their campaign with a defeat to Indonesia 1-2. The hosts defeated Singapore and Korea to make the semifinals.

I wanted to quit boxing but I continued, had to change colour of Asiad medal: Lovlina

Lovlina Borgohain had planned to retire from boxing after the 2024 Olympics, but missing out on a medal at the Paris Games made her change her mind, a decision that paid off as the Indian star clinched her maiden Asian Games gold.

“It was a tough year for me. (Earlier) I wanted to quit boxing. But I continued. I had to change the colour of my medal (at the Asian Games). It was very important. More important than that is that I continued (to play),” said Lovlina after her bout.

Archery | Men’s recurve team ends with silver after losing final to Korea

The Indian men’s recurve archery team signed off with a silver medal after going down 1-5 to defending champions Korea in a roller-coaster summit clash at the Asian Games.

The troika of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Yashdeep Bhoge and Neeraj Chauhan started strongly after an early fumble by Korea but could not hold onto the advantage as they went down 56-56, 50-57, 54-56.

The first set, in which the Indians had the edge after Korea started with an 8, was tied.

The Korean team of Lee Woo-seok, Kim Je-deok and Kim Woo-jin then took the second set after striking 10s with their first three arrows. The Indians sprayed their shots all over the target board, failing to fetch a single 10 in the second set.

The last set slipped out of India’s grasp decisively after Neeraj’s 7 from the fourth arrow.

Assam CM congratulates Lovlina on winning gold at Asian Games on her birthday

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma congratulated boxer Lovlina Borgohain on winning a gold medal at the ongoing Asian Games in Japan on her birthday.

Taking to social media, the Chief Minister said that he has spoken to the pugilist over the phone and that there can be no bigger gift to oneself on a birthday than bagging the ultimate honour for the country.

From the source “Our Golden Girl punches it off in style! Congratulations @LovlinaBorgohai on bagging GOLD in the 75kg Boxing category at the Asian Games,” Mr. Sarma said.

“There can be no bigger gift to oneself on a birthday than bagging the ultimate honour for the country,” he said.

Archery | Men’s recurve team enters final

The Indian men’s recurve archery team entered the Asian Games final, beating Iran 6-0 in the last-four-stage.

The troika of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Yashdeep Bhoge and Neeraj Chauhan won the three sets against the Iranian team of Mohammadhossein Golshani, Sadegh Ashrafi and Reza Shabani 58-53 56-53 56-55.

The Indian team has now set up a gold clash with regional powerhouses Korea, who blanked Chinese Taipei 6-0 in the other semifinal.

Sailing | Nethra Kumanan claims bronze in women's dinghy

India’s Nethra Kumanon on Friday clinched the bronze medal in the women’s dinghy event of the Asian Games sailing competition.

The 29-year-old Olympian from Chennai logged 14 points in all (7 in the final and 7 from the qualification races) to be placed third behind gold-winner Sophia Montgomery (5) of Thailand and silver-medallist Jania Ang (13) of Singapore.

Points in sailing are decided by the finish position in each race and a first place brings in one point to the total. The lowest total score wins the regatta.

Nethra won the second of her final two races and was sixth in the other.

Boxing | Lovlina punches her way to Asian games gold

Lovlina Borgohain ended India’s 12-year wait for an Asian Games women’s boxing gold, defeating China’s Ziyi Bao in the 75kg final on Friday.

Olympic medallist Lovlina defeated Bao by a 5-0 unanimous decision to upgrade the silver she had won at the last edition, where she had lost to another Chinese boxer, Li Qian, in the final.

With the win, Lovlina became only the second Indian woman after legendary MC Mary Kom to win an Asian Games boxing gold.

Read the full story below

Lovlina Borgohain wins maiden Asian Games boxing gold on her birthday, ending India’s 12-year wait and joining Mary Kom in history.

Wrestling | Sujeet storms into 65kg semifinals, three Indians lose opening bouts

A dominant Sujeet Kalkal powered into the men’s 65kg semifinals with a pair of commanding victories, including a technical superiority win over Iran’s Abbas Ebrahimzadehsavadkouhi, while three other Indians suffered opening-round defeats in the Asian Games wrestling competition.

Sujeet first overcame Afghanistan’s Sayed Omar Zazai 13-3 before producing a clinical performance against Abbas in the quarterfinal to seal his place in the last four.

Sujeet was given an early scare by Zazai, who immediately found a two-pointer and then pushed the Indian out to take a 3-0 lead. The Indian, however, quickly turned the bout around with a push-out (PO) and a shoulder throw to move ahead 5-3.

Archery | Indian women's recurve archery team clinches historic gold, mixed pair wins silver

Indian archers kept the medal rush going as the women’s recurve team produced a sensational performance under pressure to stun 10-time Olympic champions South Korea and clinch a maiden Asian Games gold, while the mixed team signed off with a historic silver on Friday (October 2, 2026).

Seasoned campaigner Ankita Bhakat, Kirti Sharma, and 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod held their nerve in challenging windy conditions to outshoot the defending champions and script a historic triumph.

Teenager Kumkum bagged her second medal of the day as she and Dhiraj bagged the silver

Read the full story below

India wins historic Asian Games gold in women's recurve archery, while mixed team secures silver.

Archery | Indian women’s recurve team enters gold-medal match

The Indian women’s recurve archery team stormed into the gold-medal match after beating China in the semifinals of the Asian Games.

The Indian team comprising Ankita Bhakat, Kirti and Kumkum Mohd defeated China 5-1 to set up a final clash with South Korea at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park.

The Chinese team comprised Yewei Huang, Qi Yu and Jingyi Zhu.

The Indian women’s compound team had won the bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

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