NAGOYA, SEP 24 (IANS): India continued to make a strong impact at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Thursday, with the men’s and women’s kabaddi teams maintaining unbeaten records, the men’s hockey side securing a third straight win, and Indian athletes progressing in athletics. There were also mixed results in boxing, fencing and gymnastics.
The Indian men’s kabaddi team defeated Chinese Taipei 37-21 in their final Group A fixture at the Tokai Citizens Gymnasium to finish the group stage unbeaten and top the table. India led 23-11 at half-time after producing two All-Outs and continued to dominate after the break. Devank Dalal and Ayan Lohchab helped maintain the advantage as India secured another All-Out before closing out the match.
India had already secured a semi-final berth and a medal after defeating Bangladesh on Wednesday. The men’s team will play their semi-final on September 25.
The women’s kabaddi team also completed an unbeaten Group A campaign with a commanding 50-25 victory over Japan. Defending champions India won all three group matches, with captain Pushpa Rana leading the side to a 32-13 half-time advantage. India added another 18 points in the second half to seal a comfortable win.
In hockey, defending champions India defeated South Korea 8-2 to register their third consecutive Pool A victory and consolidate their position at the top. Dilpreet Singh and Abhishek scored twice each, while Shilanand Lakra, Harmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh and Rajinder Singh were also on the scoresheet.
India raced to a 4-0 lead by the end of the opening quarter and held a 5-0 advantage at half-time. Dilpreet completed his brace early in the third quarter before Abhishek made it 7-0. South Korea pulled two goals back through JaeHo Kim and Yong Bok Kim, but Rajinder’s penalty-corner conversion sealed the 8-2 victory. India will face hosts Japan on Saturday.
In athletics, Animesh Kujur and national record holder Gurindervir Singh advanced to the men’s 100m semi-finals. Kujur finished third in his heat in 10.36 seconds, while Gurindervir was second in his heat with 10.38 seconds. Both progressed automatically after finishing inside the top three.
In gymnastics, Pranati Nayak finished sixth in the women’s vault final with an aggregate score of 13.100. The Tokyo Olympian improved on her eighth-place finish at the 2023 Hangzhou Games. South Korea’s Yeo Seo-jeong won gold, with DPR Korea’s An Chang-ok taking silver and China’s Du Siyu bronze.
Boxing produced mixed results for India. Parveen advanced to the women’s 65kg quarter-finals after receiving a walkover from Tajikistan’s Malika Nozimova. She will face Uzbekistan’s reigning world silver medallist Navbakhor Khamidova for a place in the semi-finals.
Sakshi Chaudhary, however, exited after losing 2-3 to reigning world champion Alua Balkibekova in the women’s 51kg pre-quarterfinals. Indian boxer Sumit was also eliminated from the men’s 79kg event after an injury forced the referee to stop his bout in the third round.
India’s women’s fencing campaign ended without a medal after C A Bhavani Devi and Shreya Gupta were eliminated in the individual sabre event. Bhavani reached the pre-quarterfinals after recovering from three pool-stage defeats, but lost 5-15 to China’s Rao Xueyi. Shreya also reached the last 16 before losing 6-15 to South Korea’s Jeon Ha-young.