Asian Para Games 2026: India creates history with record 114 medals, finishes fourth in Nagoya

India delivered its best-ever performance at the Asian Para Games 2026, finishing fourth in the overall standings with a record 114 medals, including 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze, in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The Indian contingent surpassed its previous best medal tally of 111, achieved at the Hangzhou edition in 2023, despite competing with a smaller contingent.

India’s campaign featured strong performances across para-athletics, para-badminton, para-archery, para-swimming and other disciplines. The 30 gold medals also took the country past its previous best of 29 golds at the continental event.

Para-Athletics leads India's medal charge

Para-athletics emerged as India's leading medal-winning discipline, contributing 65 medals, including 22 gold. The athletes also produced notable record-breaking performances during the competition.

Sandeep won gold in the men's 400m T64 final, clocking a world-record time of 52.28 seconds. Fellow Indian Ajay Kumar claimed bronze in 53.61 seconds.

Haney also delivered a record-breaking performance, winning gold in the men's javelin throw F37/38 final with a world-record effort of 60.49 metres and 1,116 Raza points. Iran's Hormoz Seidikazpounji took silver with 50.68 metres, while China's Yu Chengjie secured bronze with an Asian-record effort of 53.66 metres.

India added further medals through Nimisha Chakkungalparambil, who won silver in the women's long jump T47 with a best effort of 5.37 metres, and Parmod Bijarnia, who finished second in the men's 1,500m T46 in 4:09.65.

Para-Badminton adds gold medals

India also enjoyed success in para-badminton, with Nitesh Kumar winning the men's singles SL3 gold medal after defeating fellow Indian and Paralympic champion Pramod Bhagat 21-18, 21-16 in the final. Bhagat settled for silver in the all-Indian contest.

Naveen Sivakumar also clinched gold in the men's singles SL4 category, defeating Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan 21-9, 21-17 in 36 minutes.

Earlier, Thulasimathi Murugesan and Manasi Joshi won gold in the women's doubles SL3-SU5 event, defeating China's reigning world champions Qiuxia Yang and Zuxian Xiao 21-16, 21-13.

Para-badminton contributed 16 medals to India's overall tally, while para-swimming recorded a significant improvement, increasing its medal count from one at the previous edition to 11. Para-table tennis also contributed seven bronze medals.

Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi win archery gold

India added another gold medal in para-archery through Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi, who defeated China 5-1 in the men's recurve team event.

The Indian archers' victory added to the country's medal count and highlighted the contingent's success across multiple disciplines.

In another notable result, Bhawna Choudhary and Pooja Jatyan won silver in the women's recurve doubles event after losing to China.

India surpasses previous Asian Para Games record

India had finished fifth at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games in 2023 with 111 medals, comprising 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze. The Nagoya campaign saw the country improve both its overall medal tally and its gold medal count, securing fourth place in the standings.

The record haul reflects India's strong performances across a range of para-sports. Sustaining this progress will depend on continued athlete development, training support and opportunities to compete at major international events.