India produced a major gold rush at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games as the men’s hockey team defeated Malaysia 5-1 in the final, successfully defending its title and securing direct qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The victory also completed a historic hockey double, with India’s women’s team having won gold earlier after a 44-year wait. The men’s side controlled the final through goals from captain Harmanpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Hardik Singh and Shilanand Lakra, with Harmanpreet scoring twice. The result gave India a fifth Asian Games men’s hockey gold and marked the country’s first successful title defence in the event.
India’s gold haul expanded across other disciplines. Wrestler Aman Sehrawat defeated North Korea’s Han Chong Song 11-7 to win the men’s freestyle 57kg title, becoming the first Indian to secure an Asian Games gold in this category.
Seventeen-year-old archer Kumkum Mohod added another historic triumph, beating South Korea’s Oh Yejin 6-5 in a shoot-off to claim India’s first women’s individual recurve gold at the Asian Games.
Golf also delivered history as Pranavi Urs became India’s first women’s individual Asian Games golf champion.
The day ended with cricket gold as Shreyas Iyer’s India defeated Pakistan by 19 runs. India posted 211-6, powered by Abhishek Sharma’s 61 and Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 51, before restricting Pakistan to 192-6 despite Hasan Nawaz’s 96. India finished fourth overall with 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze medals total.
