Asian Games 2026: Women’s Relay Wins India’s First Athletics Gold, Gulveer Completes Medal Hat-Trick

India’s women’s 4x400m relay team delivered the country’s first athletics gold of the Asian Games 2026 on Tuesday, adding to a day highlighted by Neeru Dhanda’s historic trap title and Gulveer Singh’s third individual medal.

Kiran, Machettira Poovamma, Prachi and Vithya Ramraj clocked 3:29.69 to beat Bahrain in the relay final at Aichi-Nagoya. India also secured bronze in the mixed 4x100m relay, while Pooja reached the podium in the women’s high jump.

The results followed Neeru’s individual gold and team silver in shooting. In boxing, Narender Berwal secured bronze, while Ankush Panghal and Parveen Hooda advanced to their respective finals.

Women’s Quartet Ends Athletics Gold Wait

India finished 0.52 seconds ahead of Bahrain in the women’s 4x400m final to claim the title. Bahrain took silver in 3:30.21, while China secured bronze in 3:31.02.

The victory gave Vithya another podium finish after her bronze in the women’s 400m hurdles, where she had broken the national record.

For the Indian athletics contingent, the quartet’s performance delivered its first gold of the Games after a succession of silver and bronze medals.

Mixed Relay Team Takes Bronze in the Rain

Gurindervir Singh, Sneha Sathyanarayana Shanuvalli, Animesh Kujur and Harita Bhadra combined for a season-best 41.06 seconds in the rain-hit mixed 4x100m final.

China won gold in 40.78 seconds, with Thailand taking silver in 40.87.

Gurindervir ran the opening leg, followed by Sneha and Animesh, before Harita anchored India to third place.

Pooja added another athletics bronze with a clearance of 1.84m in the women’s high jump.

Gulveer Completes a Three-Medal Campaign

Gulveer claimed bronze in the men’s 5000m in 13:32.75, adding to his silvers in the 1500m and 10,000m.

Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew won the race in 13:30.79, while Japan’s Tomonori Yamaguchi took silver in 13:31.43. Gulveer finished less than two seconds behind the winner to complete his medal hat-trick across three distances.

Avinash Sable, who had initially been entered for the 5000m, did not compete.

Neeru became the first Indian woman to win an individual Asian Games medal in trap, scoring 28 out of 30 in the final to secure gold.

China’s Sun Yunong finished second with 26 out of 30, while the UAE’s Hajar Abdulmalik took bronze with 21 out of 25. Neeru’s victory delivered India’s second shooting gold of the Games.

She had earlier joined Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer to win women’s trap team silver. The Indian trio scored 328 points, behind China’s 346 and three points ahead of bronze medallists Kuwait.

Ankush and Parveen Advance to Gold-Medal Bouts

Ankush Panghal recovered from an opening-round setback to defeat Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Erkinboev 4-1 in the men’s 80kg boxing semifinal.

According to ESPN, Ankush lost the first round 1-4 on the judges’ cards before taking the second 3-2. He then won the decisive third round unanimously to secure his place in the final.

He will face South Korea’s Kim Min-Seong, who defeated Jordan’s Hussein Iashaish in the other semifinal.

Parveen Hooda reached the women’s 65kg final with a unanimous 5-0 victory over China’s Li Shu. She will meet Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-chin for gold.

Narender’s campaign ended with his second consecutive Asian Games bronze after a 0-5 semifinal defeat to Kazakhstan’s reigning world champion Aibek Oralbay in the men’s +90kg category.

Meena Raises the National Pole Vault Mark

India’s athletics campaign also featured a national record from Dev Kumar Meena, who cleared 5.50m in Monday’s men’s pole vault final to finish seventh.

The 22-year-old improved his previous best of 5.46m, clearing the record height on his second attempt before three unsuccessful attempts at 5.60m ended his challenge.

Fellow Indian Kuldeep Kumar finished 10th with 5.35m. In the women’s 800m final, Pooja placed seventh in 2:06.72.

Dhiraj Bommadevara and Neeraj Chauhan advanced to the men’s individual recurve quarterfinals.

Dhiraj beat Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Hsiang-Hui 6-2, while Neeraj defeated South Korea’s Kim Je-deok 6-4. Their quarterfinal matches are scheduled for October 3.

With inputs from ANI