Asian Games 2026: Mirabai Chanu, Jay Meena And Indian Shooters Shine As India Add Four More Medals

India added four medals to its Asian Games 2026 tally on Wednesday, with Mirabai Chanu winning silver in weightlifting, Jay Meena securing bronze in soft tennis, and the Indian men’s and women’s teams claiming bronze medals in skeet shooting. Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, meanwhile, finished fifth in the women’s 10m air pistol final. 

Weightlifting – Silver: Mirabai Chanu Ends Long Wait

Ace Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu finally secured her maiden Asian Games medal by winning silver in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event at the Nagoya City Trade and Industry Centre.

Chanu produced a total lift of 198kg, combining an 87kg snatch with a 111kg clean and jerk.

North Korea’s Ri Song-gum won the gold medal with a total of 210kg, while Indonesia’s Wijayana Luluk Diani Tri took bronze with 191kg.

The silver ended Chanu’s long wait for an Asian Games podium. She finished ninth on her debut at the 2014 Asian Games and missed the 2018 edition in Jakarta because of injury. At the 2023 Hangzhou Games, she finished fourth after a thigh injury affected her clean and jerk attempts.

Chanu’s medal in Nagoya also completes her collection of medals at the three major multi-sport events — the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. She has previously won an Olympic silver, a world title and three Commonwealth Games gold medals.

India had been waiting 28 years for a weightlifting medal at the Asian Games since Karnam Malleshwari won silver in Bangkok in 1998.

Soft Tennis – Bronze: Jay Meena Creates History

Jay Meena created history by becoming India’s first Asian Games medallist in soft tennis.

Meena secured the bronze medal in men’s singles after losing 2-4 to Japan’s Takuya Kurosaka in the semifinal.

He had booked his place in the last four with a dramatic comeback against the Philippines’ Sherwin Nuguit in the quarter-final. Trailing 3-5 in the deciding game, Meena won the next four points to complete a 4-3 victory.

Meena’s journey in soft tennis began almost by chance. Initially interested in cricket, he came across a soft tennis court at Pioneer Public School in Dewas and started out as a ball boy before taking up the sport himself.

He won men’s singles gold at the 36th National Games in Gujarat in 2022 and became the national champion in 2025. He also won India’s first-ever medal at the World Soft Tennis Championships in 2024, taking bronze in mixed doubles with Aadhya Tiwari.

Shooting – Bronze: Indian Women’s Skeet Team Finishes Third

India also secured a bronze medal in the women’s skeet team event, with Raiza Dhillon, Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Maheshwari Chauhan combining for 331 points.

China won gold, while Kazakhstan took silver.

Raiza and Parinaaz also reached the women’s skeet individual final. Both had scored 111/125 in qualification, but Raiza finished fourth and Parinaaz eighth, leaving the duo without an individual medal.

Shooting – Bronze: Men’s Skeet Team Adds Another Medal

The Indian men’s skeet team of Olympians Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Mairaj Ahmad Khan, along with Bhavtegh Singh Gill, also won bronze.

The trio finished with a combined score of 346 points. Qatar won gold, while Kuwait claimed silver.

Anantjeet was the only Indian from the team to qualify for the individual final after scoring 119/125 in qualification. Mairaj scored 116/125, while Bhavtegh recorded 111/125. 

With the two skeet team bronzes, India’s shooting medal tally rose to seven — four silver and three bronze medals. 

Shooting – No Medal: Manu Bhaker Finishes Fifth

Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker missed out on a podium finish in the women’s 10m air pistol event, finishing fifth in the final with a score of 181.1.

Bhaker had entered the eight-woman final after finishing third in qualification with 579 points, including 20 inner 10s.

South Korea’s Gaeun Choo won gold with an Asian and Games record score of 246.3. China’s Yiyao Shen took silver with 241.3, while Ranxin Jiang won bronze with 221.6.

India also narrowly missed a medal in the women’s 10m air pistol team event. Bhaker, Esha Singh and Suruchi finished fourth with 1719-44x, while Vietnam claimed bronze with the same aggregate score but a higher inner-10 count. 

Bhaker will now turn her attention to the 25m pistol event.

India’s Medal Haul

The four medals won across weightlifting, soft tennis and shooting marked another productive day for India at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

India’s medal tally stood at 10 — one gold, four silver and five bronze medals by the time of these results.