India's women's kabaddi team continued its dominance on the continental stage by defeating Iran 37-34 in a thrilling final to win the gold medal at the Asian Games on Saturday.
The victory marked India's record-extending fourth women's kabaddi title at the Asian Games. The defending champions have now won every edition of the event since its introduction at the Guangzhou Games in 2010, with the exception of 2018 when Iran ended India's winning streak in the final at Jakarta.
The gold medal added to a productive day for the Indian contingent across multiple disciplines. In athletics, marathon runner Sawan Barwal delivered a historic performance by securing the silver medal in the men's marathon. The achievement ended India's 44-year wait for a podium finish in the event at the Asian Games, with the country claiming its first marathon medal since 1982.
In shooting, the Indian trio of Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa Vinod and Ashi Chouksey captured the silver medal in the women's 50m rifle three positions team event. Tilottama also impressed in the individual competition, finishing fourth in the final.
Indian boxing produced mixed results. Kapil Pokhariya advanced to the quarterfinals of the men's 90kg category after a convincing 5-0 victory over Iran's Sam Estaki. However, Jadumani Singh exited the competition following a 0-3 defeat against Philippines boxer and Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Carlo Paalam in the men's 55kg category.
Archery also brought encouraging news for India. World Cup Final champion Dhiraj Bommadevara topped the men's recurve qualification standings after setting a new Asian Games qualification record with 698 points. His score surpassed the previous mark of 690 set by Korea's Lee Woo Seok. India also secured second place in the team events.
In squash, the mixed doubles pair of Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar settled for the bronze medal after a narrow semifinal loss to Hong Kong's Tang Ming Hong and Lee Ka Yi.
The day proved challenging in several other disciplines. Manush Shah and Yashaswini Ghorpade bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals of the men's and women's singles table tennis events respectively. India's men's sabre team and women's foil team also saw their campaigns end in the quarterfinal stage after defeats to Korea and Japan.
Meanwhile, India's canoeing campaign concluded without a medal at Miyoshi Lake. The team was unable to replicate the bronze-medal success achieved at the previous Hangzhou Games, where India had finished on the podium in the men's canoe double 1000m event.
In cricket, Japan's men's team was eliminated after its rain-affected first-round match against Nepal was abandoned during the chase. Nepal advanced to the quarterfinals as Group A winners, while Afghanistan also secured a place in the last eight.
With the women's kabaddi gold highlighting the day's action, India continued to add to its medal tally while producing several notable performances across events on Day 7 of the Asian Games.