India added seven medals to its Asian Games 2026 tally on Sunday, with athletics producing a strong haul and Indian boxers booking places in the semifinals. The country ended Day 8 with 37 medals — four gold, 16 silver and 17 bronze — although it slipped from 10th to 12th in the overall standings.
The biggest talking point of the day was Ancy Sojan’s narrow miss for gold in the women’s long jump. Sojan produced a best effort of 6.53m on her fifth attempt to move into the lead, but China’s Huang Yingying responded with 6.55m in the final round. The two-centimetre difference gave Huang the gold, leaving Sojan with silver.
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India’s Shaili Singh also came close to the podium. Her best jump of 6.42m was not enough for bronze after China’s Mengyi Tan recorded 6.46m. Shaili finished fourth.
Sarvesh Kushare added another silver in the men’s high jump. Kushare cleared 2.25m, matching Chinese Taipei’s Chao Hsuan-Fu, but Chao won gold after clearing the height in his first attempt. Kushare needed two attempts. South Korea’s Sanghyeok Woo took bronze with 2.22m.
Parul Chaudhary won bronze in the women’s 3000m steeplechase and broke her own national record with a time of 9:08.67. She also became the first Indian woman to go below nine minutes and 10 seconds in the event. Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi won gold in a Games-record 9:04.36, while Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto Tanui took silver in 9:06.82.
The medal was Parul’s third Asian Games medal. She had won gold in the 5000m and silver in the 3000m steeplechase at the Hangzhou Games.
Harita Bhadra also secured bronze in the women’s 200m final with a time of 23.20 seconds. Singapore’s Shanti Pereira won gold in 22.78 seconds, while China’s Chen Yujie took silver in 22.93 seconds.
India’s athletics campaign produced four medals on Sunday, including a bronze for Tejaswin Shankar in the men’s decathlon. Shankar finished third with 7,934 points, behind Japan’s Yuma Maruyama and China’s Chen Xinghua.
In squash, India collected two silver medals. Anahat Singh lost the women’s singles final to defending champion Sivasangari Subramaniam of Malaysia, while Abhay Singh was beaten by defending champion Ng Eain Yow of Singapore. Both Indian players missed out on individual Asian Games gold.
India’s women’s hockey team also advanced to the semifinals after defeating Singapore 7-0, with Sunelita Toppo scoring twice.
In boxing, Narender reached the semifinals after stopping Thailand’s Adthapong Saengtep in the first round. His victory guaranteed India another medal.
