New Delhi [India], October 1 (ANI): India won six confirmed medals on Day 12 of the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, including two silver and four bronze, while the men's hockey and cricket teams advanced to their respective gold-medal matches on Thursday.
Nitesh Siwach in the men's 97kg Greco-Roman wrestling category and Indian sailors Manu Francis and Prince Noble in the men's skiff event headlined the country's medal wins on Thursday.
Siwach won the silver medal in the men's 97kg Greco-Roman wrestling event at the Asian Games 2026 after losing to Japan's Yuri Nakazato in the gold medal bout.
Nitesh went down 0-2 in the opening round of the gold medal bout, with Nakazato taking the lead after the Indian was penalised for passivity. Nitesh defended well when Nakazato got the opportunity to add to his score, keeping the deficit to just two points. However, the Indian was unable to find an advantage in the final 30 seconds of the opening round.
Nakazato then extended his lead to 4-0 with two minutes remaining on the clock after brilliantly bundling Nitesh over and taking two more points. The Japanese wrestler continued to dictate the tempo and put Nitesh under pressure. Nakazato also looked to finish the bout with a pin, but Nitesh held his ground. Nakazato maintained control until the end and secured the gold medal, while Nitesh had to settle for silver.
Meanwhile, the Indian duo of Manu Francis and Prince Noble finished second behind China after completing nine races with 23 points, while Hong Kong secured the bronze medal in the men's skiff event. Manu and Prince, who compete together in the 49er class, produced a consistent campaign and also won one of the nine races on their way to the silver medal.
Later on Thursday, sailors Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma won a bronze medal in the women’s skiff event, giving India another medal in the sailing competition in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
The Indian pair finished third after nine races in the opening series, with 24 net points and 28 total points. Harshita and Shital had initially finished fourth, but China, which had originally secured third place, was subsequently disqualified, moving the Indian pair into the bronze-medal position.
The Indian squash teams also contributed two more bronze medals. The women's team comprising Anahat Singh, Joshana Chinappa, Tanvi Khanna, and Shameena Riaz won bronze after losing 1-2 to Hong Kong in the semifinal, while the men's team of Abhay Singh, Veer Chotrani, Velavan Senthilkumar, and Suraj Kumar Chand secured bronze following a 1-2 defeat against Malaysia.
In archery, Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru bagged the bronze medal in the men's compound individual event with a 149-144 victory over Vietnam's Cong Duc Dang.
The medal was Ganesh's second at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
Ganesh maintained his composure throughout the bronze-medal contest and pulled away from Cong in the final stages. The Vietnamese archer opened with an eight, while Ganesh continued to find the target consistently before sealing the contest with a score of 149.
India assured themselves of another medal in men's sepaktakraw after reaching the semi-finals of the quadrant event with an unbeaten group-stage campaign.
India's men's quadrant team registered a thrilling 2-1 comeback win over Myanmar to top Group A and secure a place in the semi-finals.
After losing the opening game 15-10, India bounced back to win the next two games 15-13 and 15-7. Earlier, the team had defeated the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Vietnam in the group stage.
The biggest team-sport highlights of the day came in hockey and cricket, with both Indian men's teams reaching the finals.
India defeated Pakistan 4-3 in a thrilling semi-final, with Abhishek scoring the decisive goal in the dying minutes to send the defending champions into the gold-medal match.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored twice, while Sukhjeet Singh also found the net as India surrendered a three-goal lead before Abhishek struck late to seal the victory.
The win means India's men's and women's hockey teams will both feature in the finals at the same Asian Games for the first time since 1998.
In men's cricket, India defeated Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the semifinal to set up a gold-medal clash against Pakistan.
India posted 169/7 in their 20 overs, with Ishan Kishan leading the way with an unbeaten 80 off 46 balls to set Sri Lanka a challenging target.
Earlier, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi provided India with a brisk start, scoring 38 off 21 balls despite the early loss of wickets. With the pitch proving difficult for batting, Sri Lanka face a challenging chase.
India will head into Day 13 of the Asian Games with another action-packed day on the cards, with more medals up for grabs across archery, boxing, hockey and several other disciplines. (ANI)
India win six medals on Day 12 at Asian Games 2026; hockey, cricket teams enter finals
