Asian Games 2026: India beat Pakistan 4-3, enter men’s hockey final
Why in the news
On 1 October 2026 at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, India’s men’s hockey team reached the final and Indian athletes added medals in wrestling, sailing, athletics, archery and squash.
Key facts
- Men’s hockey: India beat Pakistan 4-3 in the semi-final at Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium, Kakamigahara. Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored twice from penalty corners; Sukhjeet Singh also scored, and Abhishek struck the winner with under a minute left. It was India’s sixth straight win.
- Wrestling: Nitesh Siwach took silver in men’s 97kg Greco-Roman after losing 0-4 to Japan’s Yuri Nakazato. He became only the second Indian Greco-Roman wrestler to reach an Asian Games final, 64 years after Maruti Mane won silver in 1962.
- Sailing: Manu Francis and Prince Noble, from Kerala, won silver in the men’s skiff with 23 points over nine races; China won gold. It was India’s first sailing medal of these Games.
- Athletics: bronze in the men’s 4x400m relay for Dharmveer Chaudhary, Manu TS, Jay Kumar and Vishal TK.
- Archery: Ganesh Mani Ratnam won bronze in the men’s compound individual event, beating Vietnam’s Cong Duc Dang 149-144.
- Squash: bronze for the women’s team.
- Women’s hockey: India beat South Korea 2-0 in the semi-final on 30 September and will meet China for gold.
About the Games
The 2026 Asian Games are hosted by Aichi and Nagoya in Japan. India are the defending men’s hockey champions from the 2022 Hangzhou Games. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the relay, sailing and archery medallists.
Exam angle
- Host: Aichi-Nagoya, Japan (2026).
- Maruti Mane: India’s earlier Greco-Roman finalist at the Asiad (silver, 1962).
- Skiff medal was in sailing, not rowing.