October 1, 2026 gave India two finals in one afternoon and a fistful of medals to go with them. At the Asian Games, the men’s hockey team, unbeaten through the group stage, edged Pakistan 4-3 to book a gold-medal date, and the cricketers hammered Sri Lanka in their semifinal, batting first and posting 169/7 with a half-century from Ishan Kishan as the spine of the innings, setting up the same opponent on Sunday’s schedule of dreams: Pakistan again, this time for gold.
India’s overall tally climbed to 65. The sailing pair of Manu Franchis and Noble Kurisinkal took silver. In compound archery, Ratnam Thirumuru saw his gold hopes die in the semifinal, then joined Ganesh Mani to claim bronze, and Nitesh Siwach grabbed a historic silver at 97kg Greco-Roman wrestling, the first Indian to reach that final in 64 years. Japan’s Yuri Nakazato built an early 2-0 lead and held his nerve; Siwach chased hard and never caught him.
Squash Brings Bronze, Both Ways
The men’s squash team fell 1-2 to Malaysia in a semifinal that swung for hours. Veer Chotrani forced the tie level with a straight-games win, and Velavan Senthilkumar, the higher-ranked man in the decider, grabbed its opening game 12-10 after trailing 9-7. Malaysia’s Ameeshanraj Chandaran answered, taking the second 11-6 and then the match 11-8 to send his side through. India settled for bronze, matching the women’s team result from earlier in the day.
The Near Misses
Other results stung. Wrestler Mansi Ahlawat, down 2-0 within 30 seconds against Mongolia’s Altjin Togtokh, fought back to 2-2 before a last-second takedown cost her the bronze, 4-2. Judoka Inungambi Takhellambam’s own bronze bid ended against Mongolia’s Anujin Uran-Ulzii, who rolled up a 12-0 margin on scores. Sumit Nagal’s loss closed India’s tennis campaign without a medal, Pakistan swept the men’s volleyball team out in straight sets, and sport climber Deepu Mallesh finished third in his Speed heat in 5.32 seconds, behind China’s Chu Shouhong at 4.88 and Japan’s Ryo Omasa at 5.00, one place short of advancing.
Shooter Anish Bhanwala, so often a finals banker, crashed out of his event, closing the shooting campaign. There was one forward glance left in the day: the sepaktakraw team assured itself of at least a bronze.
Two finals against Pakistan now stand between India and the close of the Games.
