India enjoyed another medal-filled morning at Asian Games 2026, with Mirabai Chanu finally ending her long wait for an Asiad medal, both skeet teams adding bronze and Jay Meena creating history in soft tennis. The day was not entirely celebratory. Manu Bhaker, one of India’s biggest shooting hopes, reached the women’s 10m air pistol final but finished fifth, while the Indian team narrowly missed bronze in the same event on a tie-break.

By late morning on September 23, India had added four awarded medals on Day 5 — one silver and three bronze — while further podium finishes remained possible across shooting, badminton, sepaktakraw and other events.

Asian Games 2026 Day 5: Mirabai Chanu Ends Long Medal Drought

For Mirabai Chanu, this was one of the few major medals missing from an already decorated career. The Olympic silver medallist lifted a total of 198kg in the women’s 49kg category, recording 87kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk to secure silver. North Korea’s Ri Song-gum dominated the competition with a 215kg total. Ri lifted 94kg in the snatch and 121kg in the clean and jerk, with the latter helping her produce a commanding winning performance.

For Chanu, however, the silver carried special significance. She had finished ninth on her Asian Games debut in 2014, missed the 2018 edition because of injury and finished fourth at Hangzhou in 2023 after suffering a hip problem during competition. The September 23 silver finally added an Asian Games medal to a collection that already includes an Olympic medal, World Championship honours and multiple Commonwealth Games titles.

Manu Bhaker Finishes Fifth in 10m Air Pistol

The shooting range produced mixed results for India. Manu Bhaker qualified for the women’s 10m air pistol final after scoring 579 points in qualification. She had produced a strong finish to the qualification round, including scores of 96, 96 and 98 in her final three series. In the final, however, she could not remain inside the medal positions and eventually finished fifth.

India also narrowly missed a team medal. Bhaker, Esha Singh and Suruchi Inder Singh combined for 1719 points, the same total as Vietnam. Vietnam took bronze because it recorded 46 inner tens compared with India’s 44. The result means Manu Bhaker leaves the event without the medal many had expected, although India's shooters continued to contribute heavily elsewhere on Day 5.

Both Skeet Teams Win Bronze

Skeet provided two important additions to India’s medal count. Raiza Dhillon, Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Maheshwari Chauhan combined to win bronze in the women’s skeet team event with a score of 331. China took gold with 357, while Kazakhstan finished second on 336. Soon afterwards, the men’s team of Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Ahmed Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill also secured bronze. The back-to-back podium finishes reinforced shooting’s importance to India’s campaign. The women’s skeet medal was already India’s sixth shooting medal of the Games at the point it was confirmed, according to Hindustan Times’ running results.

Jay Meena Creates Soft Tennis History for India

One of the most memorable stories of Day 5 came from a sport that rarely dominates Indian sporting headlines. Jay Meena became the country’s first Asian Games medallist in soft tennis. He first defeated the Philippines’ Sherwin Nuguit in a dramatic quarter-final to guarantee a podium finish. In the semi-final, Meena faced Japan’s Takuya Kurosaka. He fought back after losing the opening three games but eventually went down 4-2, securing bronze.

The result marked a major personal improvement as well. Meena had reached the quarter-finals at Hangzhou three years earlier but missed the podium. This time, his run ensured India finally entered the soft tennis medal table. For a relatively low-profile discipline in India, the bronze could also help generate greater visibility and participation.

Asian Games Medal Tally India: Where Does India Stand?

India had entered September 23 with seven awarded medals: one gold, four silver and two bronze. Day 5 then added:

That takes India to 11 awarded medals — 1 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze — based on the medals confirmed during the morning session. The asian games medal tally india figure can continue changing during the day because several events were still in progress when the latest results were reviewed. India had also already assured medals in events such as badminton and sepaktakraw, but those should not be added to the official medal count until the relevant medal has actually been awarded.

Hockey Team Dominates Thailand

India’s women’s hockey team also produced a dominant pool-stage display against Thailand. The Indian side raced into a huge lead, with Deepika scoring repeatedly as Thailand struggled to contain the attack. By the third quarter, India were already 16-0 ahead, and the live score had reached 19-0 with time still remaining in the fourth quarter in the latest update reviewed. The performance followed another emphatic result earlier in the tournament and underlined India’s attacking strength in the group phase. While no medal was at stake in this match, the margin could prove valuable for confidence and goal difference as the tournament progresses.

Kabaddi Teams Start Strongly

India also registered convincing victories in both men’s and women’s kabaddi. The men defeated Bangladesh 48-25 in Group A and are scheduled to face Chinese Taipei next. The women defeated Iran 37-23 and will next play hosts Japan. Kabaddi remains one of India’s traditional medal strengths, making the early group results particularly important as both teams work towards the knockout stages.

Rowing and Canoe Athletes Advance

India also recorded progress across rowing and canoe sprint. Balraj Panwar advanced to the men’s single sculls final after finishing fourth overall across the heats. Satnam Singh and Salman Khan also qualified for the men’s double sculls final. In canoe sprint, the men’s kayak four crew of Harshwardhan Shaktawat, Varinder Singh, L Naocha Singh Oinam and Arun Singh qualified for the 500m final after finishing third in their heat. Parvathy Geetha and Phairembam Soniya Devi also progressed in the women’s kayak double 500m competition. These results do not guarantee medals, but they keep several additional Indian entries alive.

India Also Progresses in Table Tennis and Squash

The table tennis mixed doubles pair of Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade defeated Maldives’ Mohamed Ismail and Fathimath Ali in their second-round match. Squash also began positively. Abhay Singh produced a dominant 11-1, 11-0, 11-2 victory to advance, while Veer Chotrani later defeated Shamil Wakeel 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 in the men’s singles round of 32. India still has significant medal potential in squash later in the competition, so comfortable early-round victories reduce unnecessary physical strain.

Why Mirabai Chanu’s Silver Matters

The most significant individual performance of the morning still belonged to Mirabai Chanu. She is already one of India’s most successful weightlifters, but the Asian Games had repeatedly frustrated her. Her 2023 campaign ended painfully when injury struck during the competition. Three years later in Japan, she returned to complete the one continental objective still missing from her résumé. Her 198kg total was not enough to challenge Ri Song-gum’s exceptional 215kg performance, but it comfortably put Chanu on the podium. The medal also represents an encouraging result after Chanu’s recent return to competitive form.

What Happened to India’s Pistol Medal Hopes?

India entered the women’s 10m air pistol competition with three strong shooters and reasonable hopes of both individual and team medals. The team competition ultimately came down to the smallest of margins. India and Vietnam both scored 1719, but the inner-ten count pushed Vietnam into bronze. Only Bhaker progressed to the individual final. Her fifth-place finish meant India ended the pistol event empty-handed despite being extremely close to the team podium. That makes the result one of Day 5’s clearest examples of how small margins can decide asian games medals.

More Medals Could Still Come on Day 5

Day 5 remained active after the morning medal rush. Anantjeet Singh Naruka had qualified for the men’s individual skeet final, while India’s badminton men were preparing for a high-profile semi-final against China. A medal had also been assured in men’s sepaktakraw after India advanced to the semi-final stage. Boxer Ankush Panghal began his campaign with a convincing 5-0 victory over Bahrain’s Hamsa Vogel.

With several events still underway, the asian games medal tally india total of 11 awarded medals was therefore only a snapshot rather than the final Day 5 number.

India’s Day 5 Campaign Gains Momentum

The morning session of Asian Games 2026 produced the kind of spread India wants from a major multi-sport competition. Shooting again delivered medals, weightlifting produced a long-awaited breakthrough, and a first-ever soft tennis podium showed that medal opportunities are emerging beyond India’s traditional strengths. Not everything went according to plan. Bhaker missed the podium, while India’s pistol team lost bronze by the narrowest of tie-breaks.

But the broader picture remained positive. India entered the day with seven medals and quickly pushed that total into double figures, while more medal opportunities remained alive across multiple disciplines. For the Indian contingent, Day 5 is increasingly looking like another important step in building momentum at the asian games in Aichi-Nagoya.