Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
India finished the 2026 Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya with a record 114 medals, surpassing the country’s previous best at the continental event. The final tally of 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze medals bettered India’s 2023 performance in Hangzhou, when the contingent officially finished with 108 medals after three medals were later stripped following doping violations. The original tally in Hangzhou had been 111 medals.
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The record came despite India sending a smaller contingent of 168 athletes to Japan, compared with 309 in 2023. But the overall number tells only part of the story. A sport-by-sport comparison shows where India made significant gains, where its medal count fell and which events were absent from the 2026 programme for the Indian contingent.
ATHLETICS DRIVES THE GROWTH
Para athletics remained the backbone of India’s campaign. The sport delivered 65 medals in 2026, including 22 golds, according to the supplied medal-winner list. That was a marked improvement on the 2023 performance, when India won 53 medals in athletics, including 16 golds, according to published event figures.
Several athletes helped drive the improvement. Dilip Mahadu Gavit won gold in both the men’s 100m and 400m T47 events, while Pranav Soorma topped the podium in the men’s discus throw and club throw. Nishad Kumar won the men’s high jump and long jump T47 gold medals, adding to his reputation as one of India’s leading para-athletes.
Simran also won both the women’s 100m and 200m T12 titles. Deepthi Jeevanji retained her place among India’s leading performers by winning the women’s 400m T20 gold, while Haney, Rinku and Sachin Sajerao Khilari added further gold medals in field events.
The depth of the athletics haul mattered. India collected medals across track and field events, with its athletes contributing the largest share of the country’s overall total.
ARCHERY LOSES GROUND
India’s para archers won six medals in 2026, one fewer than the seven listed for Hangzhou in 2023. The latest campaign brought three golds and three silvers, compared with two golds, three silvers and two bronzes in the previous edition.
Sheetal Devi remained central to the team’s success. She won the women’s individual compound gold and was part of the mixed team compound gold-winning squad alongside Shyam Sundar Swami, Payal Nag and Toman Jumar. Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi also won gold in the men’s para recurve doubles.
The silver medals came in the women’s compound doubles, women’s recurve doubles and W1 women’s event. India did not win a bronze in para archery this time, but three gold medals ensured the sport still made a strong contribution to the overall tally.
BADMINTON SEES A DIP
Para badminton’s medal count fell from 21 in Hangzhou, according to published figures, to 16 in Aichi-Nagoya. India won three golds, five silvers and eight bronzes in 2026.
Nitesh Kumar won the men’s singles SL3 gold, while Naveen Sivakumar took the men’s singles SL4 title. Thulasimathi Murugesan and Manasi Girishchandra Joshi claimed the women’s doubles SL3-SU5 gold, giving India three titles in the sport.
Pramod Bhagat, who won men’s singles gold in 2023, took silver in SL3 this time. Thulasimathi also collected silver in women’s singles SU5 and mixed doubles alongside Nitesh Kumar. India added bronze medals across singles, doubles and mixed doubles events.
The drop in the total is notable, given badminton’s contribution to India’s record haul in Hangzhou. Still, the team returned with medals across several categories and three golds.
SHOOTING AND POWERLIFTING SLIP
India won five medals in shooting para sport in 2026, down from six in 2023. Mona Agarwal led the way, winning gold in both the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 and the women’s 50m rifle three positions SH1 events.
Avani Lekhara took silver in the 10m air rifle standing event, while Manish Narwal won silver in the men’s 10m air pistol SH1. Shrishti Arora added a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol.
Powerlifting also recorded a smaller return. India won two silver medals in 2026, through Ashok in the men’s 65kg category and Kasthuri Rajamani in the women’s 67kg event. In 2023, the country won three medals in the sport, with one silver and two bronzes.
The totals were lower, but India’s shooting campaign still produced two gold medals through Mona, who was among the country’s standout performers in Japan.
SWIMMING AND TABLE TENNIS RISE
Para swimming registered one of India’s clearest improvements. The country went from a single bronze medal in 2023 to 11 medals in 2026, comprising three silvers and eight bronzes.
Ravi Karthik Budigina won silver in both the men’s 100m backstroke and 100m freestyle S13 events. Kapil Kumar added a silver in the men’s 400m freestyle S10. Indian swimmers also collected bronze medals across freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and individual medley events.
Para table tennis improved as well. India went from two bronze medals in 2023 to seven in 2026, although the latest haul did not include a gold or silver. Jehan Madan and Shubham Wadhwa won bronze in men’s doubles, while other Indian players secured medals in men’s and women’s singles and mixed doubles.
These gains helped offset some of the declines in archery, badminton, shooting and powerlifting. Swimming, in particular, made a much larger contribution to the overall tally than it had in Hangzhou.
EVENTS MISSING FROM THE LIST
India’s 2023 medal list also included medals in canoe, chess, taekwondo and rowing. Those sports do not appear in the supplied list for 2026. Their absence should not be read simply as a decline in results: India did not compete in para canoeing, para rowing, para chess or para taekwondo at the 2026 Games, according to pre-event reporting.
The difference matters when comparing the two editions. India’s 2026 performance came from a smaller group of athletes and a narrower range of sports, making the growth in athletics and swimming especially significant.
A RECORD WITH CAVEATS
India’s 2026 campaign set a new benchmark for its performance at the Asian Para Games. Athletics delivered the biggest share of medals, swimming made a substantial leap, and table tennis improved its return. At the same time, badminton, archery, shooting and powerlifting finished with fewer medals than in 2023.
The record tally is clear, but comparisons need care. India’s original 111-medal haul in Hangzhou was later adjusted to 108 after doping-related disqualifications, and the number of sports contested by the Indian contingent changed between editions. The figures show a stronger overall result in Japan, but not uniform progress across every sport.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
