AICHI-NAGOYA, Oct. 2
India face a medal-heavy Day 13 at the 2026 Asian Games on Friday, with the women’s hockey team taking on China for gold and Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain leading three Indian boxers into their respective finals.
India will also have medal opportunities in archery, wrestling, sepaktakraw, cycling and other disciplines as the Aichi-Nagoya Games move towards their closing stages.
The biggest team event of the day will see India face China in the women’s hockey final at 3:30 pm IST.
India entered the title contest after securing their place in the final earlier in the tournament. The match gives the women’s team an opportunity to add another gold to India’s medal tally against hosts China’s regional rival in one of the most closely watched contests of the day.
Boxing could produce several medals, with three Indians scheduled to fight for gold.
Lovlina Borgohain will face China’s Bao Ziyi in the women’s 75kg final at 10 am IST. The Olympic medallist will be among India’s leading medal hopes as she seeks an Asian Games title.
Parveen will take on Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-chin in the women’s 65kg gold-medal bout at 2:15 pm.
Ankush will complete India’s three-final boxing programme when he faces South Korea’s Kim Minseong in the men’s 80kg final at 2:45 pm.
Archery provides India with another set of medal opportunities.
The women’s recurve team was scheduled to face China in the semifinal, with the medal matches following depending on the result. India’s mixed recurve team was drawn against Japan in its semifinal, while the men’s recurve team was due to meet Iran.
India had already made a strong start to Friday’s medal programme, with the women’s recurve team going on to win a historic Asian Games gold after defeating South Korea in the final.
Wrestling will feature four Indian competitors across men’s freestyle and women’s events.
Dipanshi faces Japan’s Yui Susaki in the women’s 50kg round of 16, while Priya takes on Kyrgyzstan’s Kyzy Medet in the women’s 76kg category.
In the men’s competition, Rajat Ruhal meets Kazakhstan’s Yedige Kassimbek in the 125kg freestyle round of 16, while Sujeet faces Afghanistan’s Sayed Omar Zazai in the 65kg category.
Successful wrestlers will progress through the later rounds, with repechage and medal bouts also scheduled during the day.
India could also achieve a significant result in sepaktakraw.
The men’s quadrant team is scheduled to compete in the semifinal at noon, giving India another opportunity to reach a gold-medal contest. The women’s quadrant team, meanwhile, faces Thailand in its group-stage match.
Track cycling offers further medal possibilities.
Ronaldo Singh and David Beckham will compete in the men’s keirin heats, while Harshveer Singh Sekhon and Vishavjeet Singh are due to contest the men’s madison final.
Harshita Jakhar will compete in the women’s omnium scratch race as part of India’s cycling programme.
In golf, Aditi Ashok, Pranavi Urs and Diksha Dagar continue their campaigns in the third round of the women’s individual stroke play and team competition.
Veer Ahlawat, Saptak Talwar and Yuvraj Sandhu will represent India in the corresponding men’s third round.
India will also be represented in canoe slalom, where Shikha Chauhan and Hitesh Kewat compete in the women’s and men’s kayak cross events, with qualification potentially taking them through to the medal races.
Sailing begins from 6:30 am IST, with Mahi Verma, Vishnu Saravanan, Katya Ida Coelho and Nethra Kumanan among the Indians in action.
In rugby sevens, India’s women face Malaysia in their Pool E fixture at 8:50 am.
Kashish Malik begins India’s virtual taekwondo programme against Hong Kong’s Lam Siu Wai in the mixed individual round of 16.
India’s men’s volleyball team will take on South Korea in a classification match for fifth to eighth positions.
The packed October 2 programme follows another significant day for India at the Games.
The Indian men’s hockey team reached the final after surviving a strong Pakistan comeback to win their semifinal 4-3, while wrestler Nitesh Siwach claimed silver and ended India’s 64-year wait for an Asian Games silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling.
Friday, however, presents another cluster of opportunities to add gold medals.
With three boxing finals, the women’s hockey title match and medal possibilities across archery, wrestling, cycling and sepaktakraw, October 2 could prove one of the most consequential days of India’s campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
