India's campaign at the 2026 Asian Games continues to progress impressively. By the close of the seventh day of competition, Indian athletes had secured 6 new medals, elevating the total medal tally to 23. Now, the eighth day of the Asian Games is set to further strengthen India's presence as the country's athletes test their fortunes across 15 distinct sports. Day 8 brings major opportunities for India to claim medals in disciplines such as kabaddi, athletics, shooting, fencing, and squash.
The Day Begins With Athletics and Surfing
The day's events will kick off early in the morning with athletics and surfing fixtures. Attention from sports enthusiasts will be fixed on Indian competitors right from the dawn session. The morning schedule opens with marathon and decathlon events. Sawan Barwal and Kartik Karkera will feature in the men's marathon final, while Tejaswin Shankar and Thoufeeq Noushad will take part in the men's decathlon 100-meter heat, long jump, and shot put events. The morning track action also includes Animesh Kujur in the men's 200-meter round 1 heat, alongside Shaili Singh and Ancy Sojan in the women's long jump qualification.
Track and Field Finals and Medal Bids
The afternoon and evening sessions will witness several crucial final showdowns on the track and field. The men's decathlon high jump is scheduled for the afternoon, followed by the men's shot put final where Tajinderpal Singh and Karanveer Singh will contest for the podium. Concurrently, Jyothi Yarraji and Nandini Kongan will compete in the women's 100-meter hurdles round 1 heat, while Unnathi Ayappa Poland and Haritha Bhadra take to the track for the women's 200-meter round 1 heat. The men's triple jump final will feature Praveen Chithravel and Karthik Unnikrishnan, and the evening track schedule includes Kiran and Prachi in the women's 400-meter final, Vishal Tike in the men's 400-meter final, and Parul चौधरी along with Pooja in the women's 1500-meter final.
Archery and Badminton Clashes
Archery events will feature individual and team qualifications across recurve and compound categories. Dheeraj Bommadevara, Yashdeep Bhoghe, and Neeraj Chauhan will start in the recurve men's individual and team qualification, while Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Prathika Pradeep, and Chikita Taniparthi take part in the compound women's category. Badminton action features Lakshya Sen meeting Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the second round of men's singles. Unnati Hooda faces Wong Ling Ching of Malaysia in women's singles, while the women's doubles pairing of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand squares off against Mayu Matsumoto and Yuki Fukushima of Japan. Ayush Shetty and PV Sindhu are also slated for their respective singles matches against international opponents.
Shooting Ranges, Boxing Rings, and Kabaddi Finals
Shooting events feature the 50-meter rifle 3 positions women's individual qualification and team final with Tilottama Sen, Ashi Choukse, and Vidarsa K. Vinod. In the boxing ring, Jadumani Singh faces Carlo Paalam of the Philippines in the men's 55kg round of 16, Kapil Pokhariya meets Sam Estakhi of Iran in the 90kg category, and Priya Sangwan faces Oh Yeonji of Korea in the women's 60kg division. On the mat, high-stakes kabaddi action takes center stage as the Indian women's team faces Iran in the final, followed by the Indian men's team also locking horns with Iran in the gold-medal match.
Fencing, Squash, Watersports, and Surfing
Fencing events begin from the round of 16 for the women's foil team and men's sabre team. Squash matches feature Velavan Senthilkumar and Joshna Chinappa in the mixed doubles semifinals against Lee Ka Yi and Tang Ming Hong, Anahat Singh facing Satomi Watanabe in the women's singles semifinals, and Abhay Singh meeting Mohammad Irfan in the men's singles semifinals. Water sports events include kayak and canoe semifinal and final races featuring Harshvardhan Singh Shekhawat, Parvathy Geeta, Prasanna Kumar, Raju Rawat, and Neha Devi. Surfing rounds will see Kamali Prakash and Sugar Shanthi Gayan in the women's shortboard heats, alongside Kishore Kumar Amarshu and Shivraj Bab in the men's shortboard events.
