Asian Para Games: Sheetal Devi’s double gold, Shailesh Kumar-led podium sweep headline India’s best day yet

NEW DELHI: India enjoyed its best day at the Asian Para Games 2026 on Thursday, winning 26 medals, including seven golds, as a remarkable medal rush across athletics, archery, swimming, badminton and table tennis took the country’s overall tally to 88.Armless archer Sheetal Devi led the charge with two gold medals in less than two hours, while the track-and-field contingent remained India’s biggest contributor. Suvarna Raj, Shailesh Kumar, Anjanaben Bumbadiya, Dilip Mahadu Gavit and Solairaj Dharmaraj were among the other gold medallists on a memorable day for the Indian contingent.India’s tally now stands at 21 gold, 26 silver and 41 bronze medals. The seven golds helped the country reclaim fourth place in the standings after it slipped to sixth on Day 2 and fifth on Day 3.

Sheetal Devi strikes twice, Swati Chaudhary makes history

Sheetal, the 19-year-old reigning world champion and world No. 1, began her golden run by teaming up with Toman Kumar to defend India’s mixed team title. The Indian duo beat Indonesia’s Teodora Audi Ayudia Ferelly and Ken Swagumilang 151-148.Less than two hours later, Sheetal returned to the range for the women’s individual final. After overcoming a four-point deficit, she defeated Singapore’s Alim Nur Syahidah 142-139 to repeat her triumph from the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Para Games.India also celebrated a historic achievement in archery as Swati Chaudhary won the country’s first-ever Asian Para Games medal in the W1 category. She settled for silver after losing 4-6 to China’s Cen Mengkan in the women’s individual final.ALSO READ: Where India stands in medal tally after best day with 26 medals, including 7 golds

Athletics powers India’s seven-gold haul

The day began with Suvarna Raj winning gold in the women’s F54 discus throw with a best effort of 15.66m. The 44-year-old wheelchair athlete recorded four throws beyond 15 metres to secure the biggest win of her career.India then enjoyed a podium sweep in the men’s high jump T63 event. Shailesh Kumar, who had won bronze in the long jump on Wednesday, led the way with a Games-record effort of 1.89m. Former Paralympic bronze medallist Varun Bhati took silver with a season’s best of 1.84m, while Rahul completed the all-Indian podium with a jump of 1.81m.Anjanaben Bumbadiya won the women’s 400m T47 gold in 59.97 seconds, with compatriot Jayanti Behera taking silver in 1:00.65. Dilip Mahadu Gavit, who had won the men’s 100m T47 gold on Wednesday, added another title by winning the men’s 400m T47 final in 48.27 seconds.Solairaj Dharmaraj provided a fitting finish to the day’s athletics action, successfully defending his men’s long jump T44/T62/T64 title with an Asian-record effort of 7.15m. Malaysia’s Eddy Bernard won silver with 6.34m, while Japan’s Yuma Tamaki took bronze with a personal-best 6.89m.Tejalben Damor also added to India’s medal count, winning silver in the women’s 400m T12 in 57.60 seconds. The visually impaired athlete had earlier claimed bronze in the 200m T12 event.

Four more swimming medals, Ravi Budigina completes hat-trick

India added four medals in the pool, taking its overall swimming haul to 10, although a gold remained elusive.Eighteen-year-old Ravi Budigina secured bronze in the men’s 50m freestyle S13 with a time of 25.89 seconds. It was his third medal of the Games, following silver-medal finishes in the 100m backstroke and freestyle events.Kapil Kumar won silver in the men’s 400m freestyle S10 in 4:38.44, finishing behind Japan’s Akito Minai, who set a Games record of 4:27.44. Swatik Patil claimed bronze in the men’s 100m breaststroke SB9 in 1:13.77, while Tejas Nandakumar took bronze in the men’s 100m backstroke S7 with a time of 1:18.58.

Indian shuttlers assured of multiple badminton medals

India’s para-shuttlers also enjoyed a productive day, with Pramod Bhagat and Nitesh Kumar setting up an all-Indian men’s singles SL3 final.Six-time world champion and Tokyo Paralympic gold medallist Bhagat survived a marathon two-hour-and-nine-minute semifinal against South Korea’s Lee Seunghu, winning 16-21, 21-18, 21-17.Paris Paralympic champion Nitesh had earlier defeated Indonesia’s M Imran 21-19, 21-16 to reach the final. He also advanced to the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 final with Thulasimathi Murugesan after the Indian pair beat China’s Li Mingpin and Xiao Zuxian 21-19, 14-21, 21-17.Naveen Sivakumar reached the men’s singles SL4 final, while Indian shuttlers collected five bronze medals across other events.

Bhavina Patel, Subham Wadhwa win table tennis bronze

India’s medal rush extended to para-table tennis, where Bhavina Patel and Subham Wadhwa secured bronze in mixed doubles XD7.The Indian pair lost 6-11, 11-8, 5-11, 8-11 to South Korea’s Jang Yeongjin and Lee Migyu in the semifinals after beating Japan’s Kimie Bessho and Masanori Uno 11-9, 11-3, 11-6 in the quarterfinals.China continued to dominate the overall standings, crossing 300 medals to reach 313, including 149 golds. Hosts Japan were second with 136 medals, including 40 gold, while Uzbekistan occupied third place with 117 medals, including 37 gold.India’s seven-gold day lifted the contingent back to fourth place, with 88 medals overall and momentum building across multiple disciplines.