Asian Games 2026: Mirabai Chanu's Silver Headlines a Six-Medal Day

Day 4 of the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya delivered one of India's busiest medal hauls of the competition so far, with six podium finishes spread across weightlifting, badminton, shooting, and soft tennis. The headline result came from star weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, who claimed silver in the women's 49kg category — a result that keeps her firmly among Asia's elite lifters as she continues rebuilding form ahead of the next Olympic cycle.

Chanu Delivers Under Pressure

Chanu's silver medal performance was the standout individual result of the day, adding to a career that already includes an Olympic medal and multiple international podiums. Competing in one of the most closely watched weight classes on the schedule, she held off the chasing pack to secure a result that will be read by fans back home as confirmation she remains at the top of her sport, even as younger lifters push for spots on the continental stage.

Badminton's Bronze Comes the Hard Way

India's men's badminton team had championship ambitions cut short in the semifinals, falling 3-1 to a strong Chinese side before settling for bronze. While a semifinal exit will sting for a squad that entered the tournament with real medal aspirations, a bronze in a stacked continental field remains a solid outcome, and the team's run through the earlier rounds showed the depth India has built in men's doubles and singles play over the past two years.

Shooting Adds Two More Bronzes

The shooting range produced a pair of bronze medals in the skeet discipline. The women's skeet team — Raiza Dhillon, Parinaaz Dhaliwal, and Maheshwari Chauhan — combined for a podium finish, while the men's skeet team of Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Ahmad Khan, and Bhavtegh Singh Gill matched them with bronze of their own. Skeet shooting has quietly become one of India's more consistent medal sources at recent multi-sport Games, and Day 4's results extend that trend.

Soft Tennis and Sanda Add to the Tally

Rounding out the day, Jay Meena took bronze in men's singles soft tennis, a discipline with a smaller but growing footprint in Indian sport, while martial artist Roshibina Devi advanced to the final of the women's Sanda 60kg competition, guaranteeing at least a further medal once that bout is decided. Sanda, a full-contact discipline within wushu, has become a notable growth area for India's combat sports program, and Devi's run to the final adds to the momentum built by the country's wushu contingent in recent editions of the Games.

What It Means for the Medal Tally

With six medals added on a single day, India's overall tally at the Aichi-Nagoya Games continues to climb across a genuinely broad spread of disciplines — strength sports, racquet sports, shooting, and martial arts all contributing rather than the count leaning on one or two dominant events. That balance has been a talking point for India's Games delegation in recent cycles, as officials have pushed to build depth beyond the traditional medal-heavy sports. With several more days of competition remaining in Aichi-Nagoya, Day 4's haul sets up the possibility of India closing out its most balanced Asian Games medal count in years, assuming the pending Sanda final and other ongoing events break its way.