India’s Sawan Barwal won a silver medal in the men’s marathon at the Asian Games 2026 on Friday, ending a 44-year wait for a podium finish in the event. Barwal clocked a national record time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 37 seconds in Aichi-Nagoya.
The last Indian medal in the Asian Games marathon had come in 1982, when Hosur Kukkappa Seetharan won bronze in Delhi. Barwal’s performance highlighted a day that saw India add six medals across shooting, athletics, table tennis, and squash.
India’s medal tally after Day 7 stood at 23 medals, comprising two gold, nine silver, and 12 bronze, placing the country 12th in the standings. The final count for the day reached 26 medals according to later updates.
Shooting Gold and Silver
Kamaljeet and Suruchi Inder Singh won India’s second gold medal of the Games in the 10m air pistol mixed team event. The pair shot a total of 484.6 in the final, finishing ahead of South Korea’s Suhyeon Hong and Gaeun Choo, who scored 478.0.
The Indian shooters set a new Games record with their score. This was India’s first gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the Asian Games.
India added another silver in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions team event. The trio of Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa K. Vinod, and Ashi Chouksey combined for 1,763 points to finish second.
Joshna-Velavan Settle for Squash Bronze
Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles squash competition. The Indian pair lost their semifinal to Hong Kong’s Tang Ming Hong and Lee Ka Yi 2-1 at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena.
The match was decided by narrow margins, with scores of 11-10, 2-11, and 11-10. Chinappa and Senthilkumar led 10-8 in the deciding game and held three match points, but the Hong Kong pair fought back to take the final game 11-10.
The bronze is Chinappa’s sixth Asian Games medal. The 40-year-old now has two silver and four bronze medals from the continental event. The Indian pair had assured themselves of a medal by beating the Philippines’ David Pelino and Jemyca Aribado in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Women’s Hockey Extends Unbeaten Run
The Indian women’s hockey team beat hosts Japan 3-1 at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium on Friday, registering their fourth consecutive win in Pool B. Lalremsiami opened the scoring in the fifth minute, with Ishika Chaudhary adding a second in the 30th minute from a penalty corner rebound.
Navneet Kaur scored India’s third in the 36th minute with a scoop over the Japanese goalkeeper. Japan pulled one back in the 46th minute through Shiho Kobayakawa, but India held firm for the win.
The victory virtually sealed a semifinal berth for India, who sit atop Pool B with 12 points. The team had earlier recorded dominant wins over Uzbekistan (19-0), Indonesia (17-1), and Thailand (20-1).
India will complete their Pool B campaign against Singapore on Sunday.
Table Tennis Medal After Eight Years
Manush Shah and Diya Chitale secured a bronze medal in the table tennis mixed doubles event. The pair reached the semifinals after beating Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem in the quarterfinals.
They lost their semifinal 0-4 to China’s Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, the world number two pair. The bronze is India’s first medal in Asian Games table tennis in eight years, since Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra won mixed doubles bronze in Jakarta 2018.
Athletics Medals
In addition to Barwal’s marathon silver, India won medals in track and field events. Gulveer Singh won silver in the men’s 10,000 meters with a time of 28 minutes and 29.38 seconds.
Bernice Ilangovan won bronze in the women’s pole vault with a height of 4.15 meters. She became the first Indian, male or female, to win an Asian Games medal in pole vault. Manpreet Kaur added a bronze in the women’s shot put with a throw of 17.17 meters.
India’s Day 7 performance represents their strongest single-day medal haul so far at the Games. The contingent will look to build on the momentum as the competition continues into the second week.
