India Wins Four Golds on Asian Para Games 2026 Opening Day

India won four gold medals and 11 medals overall on the opening day of the 5th Asian Para Games 2026, finishing fourth in the medal standings behind China, Japan and Uzbekistan. The Indian contingent collected four gold, five silver and two bronze medals across para shooting, para athletics, para swimming and para judo, while also producing a world record in para archery.

Mona Agarwal, Rinku, Nishad Kumar and Soumya Kumar B. secured India’s gold medals on a productive first day in Aichi-Nagoya. The results gave India early momentum in a continental competition that continues through October 24, with several disciplines already contributing major medal performances.

Shooting and athletics deliver India’s gold-medal start

Mona Agarwal led a one-two for India in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event. She won gold with 250.0 points, a new Asian Para Games record, while Avani Lekhara took silver with 249.6. The finish marked India’s first one-two result in shooting at the Asian Para Games.

Para athletics supplied three more gold medals. Rinku Hooda won the men’s javelin throw F46 title with a best throw of 65.11 metres. Ajeet Singh was close behind for silver with 65.02m, giving India another first-and-second finish.

Soumya Kumar B. added gold in the women’s 1500m T12/13 final. The report listed her personal-best winning time as 5:12.39, with Radha Venkatesh earning silver in 5:30.90. Nishad Kumar completed the athletics gold haul by winning the men’s long jump T47 with a leap of 7.11m.

India’s other athletics medal came through Ravanni Valasanaini, who claimed bronze in the women’s 1500m T11 in 5:41.85. Fellow Indian Rakshitha Raju was disqualified in that event.

The day’s results also included India’s first swimming medal of the Games. Ravi Karthik Budigina won silver in the men’s 100m freestyle S13 in 56.68 seconds. In para judo, Kokila Kaushiklate secured silver in the women’s J2 -52kg after losing the final to Kyrgyzstan’s Aibike Ulanbek Kyzy, while the opening-day summary also credited Kapil Parmar with bronze in the men’s J1 -70kg.

Archery world record adds to strong opening day

India’s day was further highlighted by a world record from Sheetal Devi and Toman Kumar in the mixed team compound ranking round in para archery. The pair combined for 1,402 points, improving on the previous world-record mark of 1,400.

The record and the medal returns across multiple sports placed India fourth at the close of the opening day. India’s shooting and athletics teams accounted for several of the most significant results, including two one-two finishes, while the archery mark added another milestone to the campaign.

With four gold medals already on the board, India will seek to add further podium results over the remaining days of the Asian Para Games. The opening-day total of 11 medals has established a strong platform for the contingent as competition continues in Aichi-Nagoya.