Dhiraj Bommadevara breaks Asian and national records at Asian Games

Indian archer Dhiraj Bommadevara set new Asian and national records in the men’s recurve qualification round at the Asian Games 2026, recording a score of 698 to top the field on September 26 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

Bommadevara’s score secured him the top seed for the individual event and contributed to India’s third-place position in the men’s team qualification. His teammates Neeraj Chauhan and Yashdeep Bhoge scored 676 and 665 points respectively, bringing India’s combined team score to 2039.

The qualification results will determine the knockout stage draws, with India entering the men’s team event as third seeds. No medals are awarded based on qualification scores; the team competition will be decided through the knockout rounds. Bommadevara’s top seed grants him a strong starting position in the individual competition.

In the women’s compound qualification, Chikitha Taniparthi led the individual standings with a score of 705 out of 720. Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Prithika Pradeep finished 13th and 20th with scores of 699 and 695 respectively, helping India secure second place in the women’s compound team qualification with a combined total of 2099.

The qualification rounds establish the brackets for knockout stages as the individual and team events continue.

India also earned a silver medal in shooting on Day 7 after Ashi Chouksey, Tilottama Sen, and Vidarsa Vinod placed second in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions team event. Tilottama Sen qualified for the individual final, finishing third in qualification with 590 points while Vidarsa Vinod was 65th with 588.

In athletics, Sawan Barwal won silver in the men’s marathon, setting a national record time of 2:11:37. Tejaswin Shankar excelled in the men’s decathlon, winning the 100m event with 865 points and achieving a 7.53m long jump. He ranked second overall with 1807 points after the 100m and third with 2484 points following the shot put. Thowfeeq Noushad placed seventh in the 100m with 856 points and third in the long jump at 7.37m, ranking ninth overall after the shot put. Animesh Kujur qualified for the men’s 200m semi-finals by finishing first in his heat.

In fencing, India reached the men’s sabre team quarter-finals by defeating the Philippines 45-27 but lost 25-45 to defending champions South Korea in the quarter-finals. The women’s foil team also reached the quarter-finals before a 14-41 defeat to Japan.

In canoe sprint, Harshwardhan Shaktawat progressed to Final B of the men’s kayak single 500m after finishing fifth in his semifinal. Parvathy Geetha and Prasanna Kumar qualified for Final A of the mixed kayak double 500m by finishing second in their semifinal.

India’s table tennis campaign ended in the women’s singles third round with Yashaswini Ghorpade losing 1-4 to Japan’s world No. 3 Miwa Harimoto. Lakshya Sen was eliminated from the badminton men’s singles after a 12-21, 21-15, 14-21 loss to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew.

At this point in the Asian Games, India has secured 25 medals: two gold, 11 silver, and 12 bronze, placing them 12th in the overall medal standings.

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