Nagoya/Nisshin: India’s continental dominance in women’s cricket remained unchallenged as the side walked away with the country’s first gold of the ongoing Asian Games, while the men’s badminton team upstaged Japan to make up for the women’s team’s ouster and a rare off day for shooters at the continental showpiece here on Tuesday.
Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. hammered Sri Lanka by 147 runs to be crowned Games champions for the second successive edition, the triumph also taking India’s medal count to seven, adding a much-awaited gold to the tally.
Medals were also confirmed in badminton and wushu, while the men’s hockey team recorded another massive win beating Sri Lanka 16-1 in a pool match. The men’s badminton team, led by a resilient Lakshya Sen, fought back after some early jitters to outwit Japan and be assured of at least a bronze.
It was a flawless performance from the Indian male badminton team, which was silver-medallist at the last edition, as it rode on victories from Lakshya, the men’s doubles combo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and Ayush Shetty.
Coming into the event after a series of early exits and low on confidence, Lakshya was staring at defeat after losing the opening game and trailing 14-19 in the decider.
However, the 25-year-old from Almora defeated world No.7 and two-time world championships silver-medallist Kodai Naraoka 11-21, 21-5, 21-19 to give India a 1-0 lead.
Satwik and Chirag then registered a 21-18, 24-22 win over former world champions Hoki Takuro and Kobayashi Yugo to extend India’s lead to 2-0 before Ayush produced an impressive performance to see off world no. 16 Koki Watanabe 21-10 21-19 to seal the match and a medal for India.
In wushu, Roshibina Devi Naorem assured India of a medal as she entered the semifinals of the women’s 60kg category, defeating Chu Man Sin from Macau in the last eight stage.
Roshibina, who has won a silver as well as a bronze medal in the previous two editions of the competition, was declared winner on point difference over her opponent from Macau at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall.
Their gritty performance came after the women’s team surrendered to the same country with a 1-3 loss.
While World Championships bronze-medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand produced a clinical performance, the singles players faltered as the team bowed out of the quadrennial event with a 1-3 loss in the quarterfinals.
Two-time Olympic-medallist PV Sindhu let slip early advantage to lose 23-21, 18-21, 6-21 to world No.3 Akane Yamaguchi in the opening singles clash.
Unnati Hooda then couldn’t find a way to go past 2022 world junior champion and current world no.7 Tomoka Miyazaki, going down 16-21, 18-21.
Treesa and Gayatri, who recently won their maiden bronze at the New Delhi World Championships, kept India alive with a 21-17, 21-16 victory over Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto.
However, young shuttler Tanvi Sharma lost 12-21, 10-21 to former world champion Nozomi Okuhara in the third singles as Japan sealed a 3-1 victory.
PM congratulates women’s cricket team on Asian Games gold
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday congratulated the Indian women’s cricket team on winning the gold medal at the Asian Games, describing the achievement as a major success for Indian cricket and the country’s first gold medal of the ongoing Games.
In a message shared by the Prime Minister’s Office on X, Modi said the team had delivered a commanding performance marked by confidence, skill and teamwork. He said the victory had made the nation proud and would inspire young cricketers across the country.
The Prime Minister extended his best wishes to the entire squad for their achievement.
Amit Shah congratulates women’s cricket team on winning gold at Asian Games
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday congratulated the Indian women’s cricket team for clinching gold at the Asian Games, calling the performance “bedazzling.”
In a message posted on X, Shah said, “Indian women cricketers finish with Gold. Applause to the Indian Women’s Cricket Team for bringing home the first gold medal at the #AsianGames2026 with a bedazzling display of unmatched cricketing prowess and untameable dominance on the pitch. May you always command victory.”
