Representative image. Daieuxetdailleurs, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
The Asian Para Games are the main multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities in the region, held every four years. India set a target of 100 or more medals after its record 111 in Hangzhou, so the last days in Japan decide whether para sport keeps its upward run. Results here also matter for athletes such as Sheetal Devi and Praveen Kumar, who are among India's best-known Paralympic names.
India’s medal count at the Asian Para Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, climbed to 45 by about 9.30 am IST on Wednesday, 21 October, with 12 gold, 15 silver and 18 bronze, news agency ANI reported. That put India fifth in the overall standings. Gold for high jumper Praveen Kumar and shot putters Ayush Verma and Sachin Khilari, and a silver for archer Sheetal Devi, drove the latest gains.
Who won India’s medals on 21 October
Praveen Kumar, the Paris 2024 Paralympic champion, defended his Asian Para Games title in the men’s high jump T44 by clearing 2.05 metres, a new Games record, IANS reported. He first beat the old mark of 1.95 metres, set by Uzbekistan’s Temurbek Giyazov in Jakarta in 2018, and then reached 2.05 metres on his last attempt. Banti took silver with a personal best of 1.92 metres, so India finished one and two.
Ayush Verma won the men’s shot put F53, a seated event, with 8.16 metres on his fifth throw, according to ANI. It was his second medal in Japan after a javelin bronze on Tuesday.
The bigger moment came in the men’s shot put F46. Sachin Khilari, a silver medallist at the Paris Paralympics, set a Games record to win gold, while Mohd Yasser took silver and Praveen took bronze. That gave India a full podium sweep, its second of these Games after Devender Kumar, Rakesh and Pardeep Kumar filled the top three places in the discus on day two. Reports differ on Khilari’s exact distance: ANI put it at 15.87 metres and IANS at 15.79 metres.
Bhagyashri Jadhav added a silver in the women’s shot put F34 with a personal best of 8.19 metres, ANI said, her second straight Asian Para Games silver in the event. Anubhav Choudhary (men’s 100m T35) and Rakesh Bhatt (men’s 100m T37) won bronze on the track.
Sheetal Devi’s world record week and a doubles silver
In archery, Sheetal Devi and Payal Nag lost the compound women’s doubles final 141 to 150 to China’s Xu Xueqing and Zhao Jing and settled for silver, IANS reported. Payal, from Balangir in Odisha, lost all four limbs in an electrocution accident as a child and shoots with a mouth-operated mechanism. This was her Asian Para Games debut.
The final came after a strong start for Sheetal in qualifying on Monday, 19 October. She scored 704 out of 720 in the ranking round, equalling the world record held by Turkey’s Oznur Cure Girdi and raising the Asian Para Games record from 680. With Toman Kumar she then shot 1,402 in mixed team qualifying, breaking the previous world record of 1,400, which was also held by India. Sheetal won the individual compound title at the 2023 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou and is still in the running to defend it.
Not every result went India’s way. Toman Kumar and Shyam Sunder Swami lost the men’s compound doubles bronze match to China by a single point, 153 to 154.
How India’s Asian Para Games tally compares with Hangzhou
The number every Indian fan is watching is 111. That was India’s record haul at the last Asian Para Games, held in Hangzhou, China, in October 2023, made up of 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze, according to ESPN. India finished fifth in that edition too.
India sent 281 people to Japan, including 168 athletes (112 men and 56 women) competing in 11 of the 18 sports, All India Radio reported before the opening on 18 October. The stated target was 100 medals or more. To match Hangzhou, India needs 66 more medals; to reach 100, it needs 55.
The pace has been fast. Olympics.com reported a tally of 35 (nine gold, 11 silver, 15 bronze) after a record-breaking second day on Tuesday, so India added 10 more medals in the first few hours of Wednesday alone. Para athletics has done most of the work, accounting for 25 of India’s first 41 medals in a sport-wise table published by The Sunday Guardian.
Where India stand in the Asian Para Games medal table
China lead the table by a huge margin. At 8:10 am IST on Wednesday, the Chinese team had 77 gold and 160 medals in all, with hosts Japan and Uzbekistan next, The Sunday Guardian reported from the official standings. At that point India and Iran were level in fifth with identical counts of 11 gold, 13 silver and 17 bronze. ANI’s later count, after the F46 sweep, still placed India fifth.
Rankings at multi-sport events go by gold medals first, so each Indian gold matters more than the overall total. On that morning table South Korea, in fourth, had 13 gold, so the gap above India is small even if the gap to the top three is wide.
What to watch before the closing on 24 October
The Asian Para Games run until Saturday, 24 October. Sheetal Devi’s individual compound campaign is the main archery event to follow for India. In para badminton, Suhas Yathiraj beat South Korea’s N. Cho 21 to 12, 21 to 16 to reach the men’s SL4 semi-finals, which ANI said guarantees him a medal. Sukant Kadam lost his SL4 quarter-final.
Medal counts in this story are as of about 9.30 am IST on 21 October, the latest available when it was published, and will rise through the day. Our sports section will carry the final count. Counting Wednesday, four days of the Games are left, so India would need about 16 or 17 medals a day to equal the Hangzhou total.
Frequently asked questions
How many medals has India won at the Asian Para Games 2026?
India had 45 medals, 12 gold, 15 silver and 18 bronze, by about 9.30 am IST on 21 October 2026, according to ANI. The count is still rising.
What is India's best Asian Para Games result?
India won a record 111 medals (29 gold, 31 silver, 51 bronze) at Hangzhou in 2023 and finished fifth.
When do the Asian Para Games 2026 end?
The Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, opened on 18 October and close on 24 October 2026.
Did Sheetal Devi set a world record?
She scored 704 out of 720 in the ranking round, equalling the world record, and with Toman Kumar set a mixed team qualifying world record of 1,402, IANS reported.