{"id":2724,"date":"2026-10-16T08:38:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T08:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/16\/india-review-asian-games-2026-performance\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T08:38:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T08:38:35","slug":"india-review-asian-games-2026-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/16\/india-review-asian-games-2026-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"India reviews Asian Games 2026 performance, calls for broader talent pipeline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>New Delhi \u2013 On Thursday, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports convened a meeting with representatives of the National Sports Federations (NSFs) to examine India\u2019s performance at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi\u2011Nagoya. The gathering, chaired by Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, focused on the country\u2019s medal haul, athlete injuries and the overall effectiveness of high\u2011performance programmes.<\/p>\n<h2>Medal tally and performance gaps<\/h2>\n<p>India finished fourth in the overall medal table at the Aichi\u2011Nagoya Games, securing a total of 85 medals, including 21 golds. While the final two days produced a surge in gold medals, the overall count fell short of the 106 medals \u2013 85 of them gold \u2013 that the nation collected at the previous edition in Hangzhou, China.<\/p>\n<p>Mandaviya highlighted the disparity, questioning why the nation could not sustain the higher numbers recorded in 2019. He urged the NSFs to assume greater responsibility for results and to work in tighter synergy to preserve India\u2019s sporting excellence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow long will Mirabai\u202fChanu alone keep winning medals for us? We need to produce 10 more Mirabai Chanus,\u201d the minister said, emphasizing the need for a continuous pipeline of talent rather than reliance on a handful of star athletes.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting was attended by Minister of State for Sports Raksha Khadse, Indian Olympic Association President P.\u202fT.\u202fUsha, Sports Secretary Hari\u202fRanjan\u202fRao and officials from a range of federations.<\/p>\n<h2>Athletics and badminton under the microscope<\/h2>\n<p>Among the sports scrutinised, athletics drew particular attention. Injuries to hurdler Jyothi\u202fYarraji and triple jumper Praveen\u202fChithravel were raised by P.\u202fT.\u202fUsha after Athletics Federation of India (AFI) advisor Adille\u202fSumariwalla presented his performance analysis. While the discussion did not delve deeply into individual cases, the issue of athlete health was flagged as a concern.<\/p>\n<p>Runner Avinash\u202fSable\u2019s fitness was also examined. The defending 3000\u202fm steeplechase champion, who had claimed a silver medal in the 5000\u202fm at Hangzhou, failed to start the 5000\u202fm event in Aichi\u2011Nagoya after finishing fourth in his primary event. His situation exemplified the broader worries about preparation and injury management.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, athletics saw its gold medal count drop from six in Hangzhou to just one in Aichi\u2011Nagoya, while the total medal haul fell to 24 \u2013 five fewer than the previous Games.<\/p>\n<p>Badminton faced criticism after the men\u2019s team secured only a bronze medal. Defending men\u2019s doubles champions Satwiksairaj\u202fRankireddy and Chirag\u202fShetty were eliminated in the first round, a result partially attributed to a congested schedule that forced athletes to play multiple matches within a 24\u2011hour period.<\/p>\n<p>The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) was noted for a landmark performance that produced an unprecedented three gold medals. Federation officials pledged to build on this success, provided they receive \u201ccontinued institutional support.\u201d Internal disputes between BFI President Ajay\u202fSingh and Secretary Pramod\u202fKumar, who have suspended each other over alleged violations, were mentioned but not discussed in detail.<\/p>\n<h2>Looking ahead: 2028 Olympics and 2030 Games<\/h2>\n<p>The review also turned to long\u2011term planning for upcoming multi\u2011sport events. Mandaviya called for an expanded cadre of sports psychologists, sports\u2011science experts and high\u2011performance mental trainers to help athletes maintain focus on the world stage.<\/p>\n<p>He urged each NSF to increase the frequency of domestic competitions, strengthen preparation programmes and conduct honest assessments of performance gaps and administrative shortcomings.<\/p>\n<p>Secretary Hari\u202fRanjan\u202fRao outlined specific targets for the next decade. India aims to finish among the top three nations at the 2030 Asian Games in Doha. For the 2030 Commonwealth Games, which India will host, the goal is to surpass the nation\u2019s 2010 record and also place within the top three. Rao stressed that every federation must treat these objectives as national challenges and begin preparations immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the Asian Games, the ministry used the platform to evaluate readiness for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, underscoring the need for sustained investment in athlete development and support structures.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting concluded with a consensus that India must move beyond reliance on isolated star performers and cultivate a broader, more resilient talent pool capable of delivering consistent success across a range of disciplines.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India&#8217;s sports ministry held a high\u2011level review of the 2026 Asian Games, noting a drop in medals and urging federations to develop a deeper talent pool.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1661,2835,3008,354,3009],"class_list":["post-2724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-asian-games","tag-athletics","tag-india-sports-ministry","tag-mansukh-mandaviya","tag-national-sports-federations","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}