India Shines with Bronze Medals at Asian Para Games 2026

Bronze Medals in Swimming and Athletics

India has made significant strides in its medal tally at the Asian Para Games 2026, with athletes Rohit Kumar, Sharath Makanahalli, Shailesh Kumar, and Haney securing bronze medals in swimming and para athletics events.

Swimming Achievements

Rohit Kumar, a newcomer, earned a bronze in the men's 100m Breaststroke SB4 final, clocking in at 1:57.25. This performance marks an improvement for India compared to the previous edition in 2022, where Shaikh and Herojit Singh finished fourth and fifth with times of 2:24.05 and 2:24.49, respectively. Rohit's time was notably 26.80 seconds faster than Shaikh's and 27.24 seconds quicker than Herojit Singh's. The gold medal was claimed by Malaysia's Muhammad Bin Zulkafli, who set a Games record with a time of 1:41.44.

Para Athletics Highlights

In the para athletics category, Sharath Makanahalli took home bronze in the men's 1500m T12/T13 final, finishing with a time of 4:11.01 and earning 629 points. Although he led significantly going into the final lap, he was overtaken near the finish line. Uzbekistan's Fakhriddin Khamraev won gold with a Games record of 4:07.48, earning 688 points, while Jordan's Nabeel Maqableh secured silver.

Shailesh Kumar, who previously won gold in the Men's High Jump T42/T63 event at the Hangzhou Asiad, also won bronze in the Men's Long Jump T42/T61/T63 Final. Both Shailesh and Mahendra Gurjar initially led the competition but were ultimately surpassed by Japan's Hajime Kondo (gold, 6.51m, 734pts) and Phalathip Khamtaa (silver, 6.41m, 699 pts). Shailesh's bronze came with a Games record effort of 5.57m, narrowly edging out Gurjar, who finished fourth with a jump of 5.56m.

Twenty-year-old Haney clinched bronze in the men's discus throw F37 final with a personal best of 57.04 metres on his final attempt. Despite being in fourth place for most of the event, he secured bronze with his last throw. Pakistan's Haider Ali took silver with a throw of 57.20 metres, while Uzbekistan's Kudratillokhon Marufkhujaev won gold with a Games record of 57.39 metres.

India's Overall Medal Success

India's performance at the Asian Para Games 2026 has been commendable, with athletes earning gold, silver, and bronze medals across various disciplines, including para athletics, swimming, powerlifting, archery, and badminton.

In para athletics, gold medals were secured by Sachin Khilari, Simran Sharma, Dilip Gavit, Praveen Kumar, and Ayush Verma. Silver medals were won by Mohammed Yasser, Parveen, Preeti Pal, Manjeet, Bhagyashri Jadhav, and Akira Banothu, while bronze medals went to Sukhchain, Pranav Desai, Anubhav Choudhary, Rakesh Bhatt, Ravi Rongali, Sharath Makanahalli, and Karamjyoti.

In para swimming, Ravi Budigina earned silver in the men's 100m backstroke S13 final, while Himanshu Nandal and Rohit Kumar both secured bronze in their respective events. Kasthuri Rajamani also won silver in women's para powerlifting.

In para archery, Sheetal Devi and Payal Nag took silver in the women's compound doubles event after losing to China's Zhao Jing and Xu Xueqing in the gold medal match. Additionally, Alphia James and Pallavi K won bronze in women's doubles WH1-WH2 para badminton.

Other Indian Performances

Several Indian athletes finished just outside the medal positions. Sujith Mandalamkunnath placed sixth in the men's long jump T13, while swimmers Vaishnavi Jagtap and Devanshi Satija also finished sixth in their events.

Niranjan Mukundan and Suyash Jadhav ended up fifth and sixth in the men's 50m butterfly S7 final, respectively.

Indian competitors also faced challenges in para archery, boccia, and para cycling, with Chaitanya Kulkarni finishing sixth in men's 100m breaststroke SB5 and Himanshu Nandal placing fourth in men's 200m individual medley SM11.