Good, not good enough: On India and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026

Aspiring to host the Olympic Games in 2036, India faced a harsh reality check at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games . Compared with the previous Hangzhou Games, where it won 106 medals with a 650-plus contingent, the country won 85 medals from around 500 athletes. The aggregate fell short of an internally projected figure of around 100 medals. It is likely to invite a thorough postmortem, given the hundreds of crores of public money spent on the athletes’ preparation. India laboured to 21 gold medals , seven fewer than in Hangzhou, after a late surge of 11 top honours in the last two days, driven by the exploits of archers, boxers, wrestlers, and hockey and cricket players. It tied with Uzbekistan but managed to retain its fourth spot on the strength of a bigger haul of silver.