India At Asian Games 2026: 21 Medals Down, 25% Fewer Golds — Why Nagoya Fell Short Of Hangzhou High?

India's 2026 asian Games campaign failed to match the high of 2023

While India finished fourth for the second time in a row and ended their Asian Games campaign with 85 medals, including 21 golds, the display in the 2026 Asian Games, which took place over the last fortnight in Aichi-Nagoya, failed to match expectations and was underwhelming. The country's medal tally decreased by 21 from the high of 106 in Hangzhou three years ago, while they also won six fewer gold medals.

Overall, a fourth-place finish is the joint-third-best finish by India alongside the 2023 edition and only behind them finishing 2nd in the inaugural edition in 1951, which they hosted in New Delhi, and the 1962 edition in Jakarta, where they managed a third-place finish. Meanwhile, both their medal tally and the number of gold medals are the second-best in history, behind the previous edition, where they won 106 medals, including 27 golds.

However, their tally of 19.8% fewer medals, as well as a fall of 25% in golds, is the fourth-worst in history from one edition to another. In fact, if the subsequent editions after the ones they hosted (1951 and 1982) are not counted, they only had a bigger fall-off in 1990.

India's Best And Worst Campaign From One Edition To Another In Asian Games

India's performance in Asian Games from one edition to another |courtesy - AI GENERATED GRAPHIC

Shooting and Athletics were India's most productive sports, and the number of medals in both sports had a massive fall-off. While India still won 15 and 24 medals, respectively, in both sports, there were only three gold medals. Meanwhile, the number of medals in Rowing and Badminton significantly reduced, while not a single Indian managed to find themselves on the podium in Tennis and Equestrian.

The tally of only gold in athletics is the joint-third worst performance by the Indian contingent in history alongside 2006 and only behind the 1990 and 1994 campaigns in Beijing and Hiroshima, where there was not a single top-of-the-podium effort.

The tally of one medal in Rowing is the worst since 2002, while it is the first time in 44 years that India has not managed a single medal in Tennis. Never before since equestrian was introduced in the Asian Games that India finished medalless.

While India has an impressive count of five medals in squash, they did not win a single gold after securing two yellow metals in 2023.

However, there were some positives as India's tally of three gold medals in Boxing is the best-ever in history in a single edition of the Asian Games. Meanwhile, India won two gold medals in wrestling after failing to get even a single one in 2023. With two golds and an overall tally of six medals, it was India's best Wrestling performance since 1962. Mirabai Chanu also won India's first weightlifting medal in the continental showpiece event after 1998.

Meanwhile, while India won five golds in Archery again, like the 2022 edition, the important thing this time around was that two golds came in Recurve Archery, which is their best-ever display and important, as most Olympic events are in this discipline. In fact, India had never won a gold medal in any recurve event before.

However, the number of gold medals fell in Compound Archery (5 to 3); India managed to win a gold in the mixed team event (and seal Olympic qualification), which will make its debut in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Moreover, India's Hockey contingent created history with the first instance of them winning both gold medals. The Men's team managed to win the competition in back-to-back editions for the first time ever. Meanwhile, the Women's team secured the gold medal after a gap of 44 years.

India won a gold medal in golf for the first time since 2002 and won multiple medals in the sport after 44 years. Meanwhile, they also secured a first-ever Soft Tennis and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) medal.

India's Sport Wise Display From 2026 To 2022 In Asian Games

India at Asian Games 2026 vs Asian Games 2022 Sport Wise | AI GENERATED

Notably, India had sent a much leaner contingent this time around (495 athletes) than last time (661 athletes). So while the number of medals fell by 21, the number of medals per athlete increased from 0.160 medals per athlete in 2023 to 0.172 medals per athlete in 2026. In fact, this is India's most efficient campaign since 1974 and the fifth-best in history.

Aayush Kataria is a Senior Copy Editor at Times Network with five years of experience, having started his career in the organisation. He is a key memb... View More