India opened their men’s kabaddi campaign at the Asian Games 2026 with a dominant 49-24 win over Japan on Monday.
Japan opened the scoring with a bonus point, but India quickly levelled through Ayan Lochhab’s touch point. Ashu then produced a three-point raid before India’s defence successfully stopped a Japanese raider, helping India inflict the first all-out and take an 11-2 lead.
India continued to dominate and secured a second all-out to extend their advantage to 18-2. They went into the half-time break with a commanding 31-9 lead, with Ashu and Devank making an impact in attack, while Sunil Kumar and Rahul contributed in defence.
India maintained control after the break, with Pawan Sehrawat, Arjun Deshwal and Aslam Inamdar also joining the attack.
Japan showed greater resistance in the second half and scored more than 20 points, but India remained in control to complete a comprehensive 49-24 victory and make a strong start to their Asian Games campaign.
India also enjoyed a productive day across other disciplines, winning medals in shooting and mixed martial arts and progressing to finals in swimming, while registering victories in boxing, soft tennis and table tennis.
In shooting, Himanshu won silver and Rudrankksh Patil took bronze in the men’s 10m air rifle individual final. Rudrankksh and Himanshu had earlier qualified for the final after finishing third and seventh, respectively, while Parth Mane finished 11th. The Indian trio had also won silver in the team event.
In mixed martial arts, Suchika Tariyal secured bronze after losing to Singapore’s Teo Hui Hoon in the women’s traditional 60kg semifinal.
In boxing, Sumit defeated Thailand’s Bunjong Sinsiri in the men’s 70kg Round of 32 to advance.
In soft tennis, Aadhya Tiwari and Jay Meena recorded wins over Cambodia and Mongolia in their mixed doubles Group B matches. They also lost to South Korea’s Kim Yeon-hwa and Jaekyu Park before being defeated by the Philippines’ Christy Sanosa and Sherwin Nuguit in the round of 16.
In swimming, Srihari Nataraj advanced to the men’s 50m backstroke final, with Rishabh Das named as the first reserve. Mani Akash and Gitesh Shah failed to qualify for the men’s 50m freestyle final, while Dhanush Suresh missed out on the men’s 100m breaststroke final.
In wushu, Nyeman Wangsu finished 15th in the women’s Changquan final. In table tennis, India defeated Pakistan 3-0 in the women’s team Group F match.
India suffered a setback in sepaktakraw, however, losing to Japan in the men’s team regu Group B match.
(ANI Inputs)
