Road to LA28: How did India perform in squash & archery events at Asian Games 2026?

India won nine archery medals, including five gold, while squash delivered five medals with no gold.

Squash and archery were two of India’s most reliable medal sports going into the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, and both delivered, though in different ways.

At the 2022 Hangzhou Games, squash brought five medals, including two golds. Archery brought a record nine, five of them gold, and the compound team swept every title. There were hopes of repeating that same success at the 2026 Games, alongside the added pressure of securing an Olympic quota.

Here’s how the Indian squash and archery contingent performed at the Asian Games 2026.

Squash

Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh were India’s two silver medallists in squash. The 18-year-old Anahat beat Singapore’s Au Yeong Wai Iynn in the Round of 16 and then compatriot Tanvi Khanna in the quarter-finals. The semi-final against Japan’s World No. 6 Satomi Watanabe was the defining match of her Games.

She went two games down, then won 9-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-6, 11-3. In the final, Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam defeated her 4-11, 4-11, 7-11. However, the tremendous courage she displayed in the semi-final revealed remarkable mental strength at such a young age.

Abhay beat Thailand’s Arkaradet Arkarahirunya and Sri Lanka’s Ravindu Laksiri in the early rounds, Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue 3-0 in the quarter-finals and Pakistan’s Muhammad Irfan in the semi-finals. He lost the final to Malaysia’s Ng Eain Yow 9-11, 5-11, 5-11, his eighth defeat to the same opponent.

Both losses cost India the Olympic quotas, because only the singles gold medallists earn a place at LA28. India will take the silvers, but the missed golds hurt. The biggest disappointment was Veer Chotrani, who lost to Pakistan’s Irfan in the quarter-finals, ending his hopes of winning a singles medal.

Mixed doubles was a huge chance gone begging. Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar lost the semi-final to Hong Kong’s Lee Ka Yi and Tang Ming Hong 10-11, 11-2, 10-11.

In the decider, India led 10-7 with three match balls. Hong Kong won four consecutive points to take the game 11-10. The pair settled for bronze, Joshna’s sixth Asian Games medal.

The team events also proved disappointing for India. The men entered the tournament as defending champions but suffered a 1-2 semi-final defeat to Malaysia.

Abhay lost the opening match 0-3 to Ng, before Veer levelled the tie with a win over Sanjay Jeeva. Velavan then lost the decider 1-3 to Ameeshenraj Chandaran, ending India’s title defence.

The women’s semi-final went the same way against Hong Kong. Anahat led Chan Sin Yuk two games to nil but let it slip. Tanvi levelled the tie, and Joshna lost the deciding match. Both teams took bronze.

• Gold: 0
• Silver: 2
• Bronze: 3

Archery

Compound archery has long been India’s strength, and it held up. India swept all three compound team golds. Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Chikitha Taniparthi and Prithika Pradeep beat China in the women’s final.

Chikitha and Sahil Jadhav then secured mixed team gold in a dramatic shoot-off, earning India an LA28 quota place in the event, which will make its Olympic debut.

The men’s team of Sahil, Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru and Kushal Dalal also clinched gold, completing a memorable double for India. Ganesh added an individual bronze.

India will be disappointed about the women’s individual event, though. Jyothi, the defending champion, lost in the round of 16 to 14-year-old Korean Kang Yeonseo.

Recurve provided the pleasant surprise. India had previously never won more than silver or bronze in recurve at the Asian Games. Kirti Sharma, Kumkum Mohod and Ankita Bhakat beat South Korea 5-3 to win India’s first women’s recurve team gold, ending Korea’s seven-title streak.

Seventeen-year-old Kumkum followed it up by becoming the first Indian woman to win Asian Games individual recurve gold, defeating Korea’s Oh Yejin in a dramatic shoot-off.

The final ended 5-5, with Oh shooting an eight before Kumkum responded with a perfect 10 to seal the gold. Her run had also secured India a women’s recurve quota for LA28.

She finished with three medals, adding mixed team silver with Dhiraj Bommadevara. Neeraj Chauhan won the men’s individual bronze after beating three-time Olympic team gold medallist Kim Je-deok earlier in the event.

• Gold: 5
• Silver: 2
• Bronze: 2

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