Indian sailor Nethra Kumanan won the bronze medal in the women’s dinghy event at the Asian Games 2026 on Friday, adding another medal to India’s sailing tally at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
Nethra recovered strongly in the second and final race of the finals after a difficult opening race to finish on the podium.
She finished level on points with Hong Kong’s Stephanie Louise Norton, but secured the bronze medal on the basis of her superior head-to-head results against Norton.
The medal adds to India’s strong performance in sailing at the Asian Games, with Indian sailors having already won medals in the men’s and women’s skiff events.
On Thursday, Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma won bronze in the women’s skiff event after initially finishing fourth. Their position was upgraded following China’s disqualification.
Earlier on Thursday, Manu Francis and Prince Noble won silver in the men’s skiff event after finishing behind China following nine races. Hong Kong secured the bronze medal.
India also enjoyed a productive outing in archery on Day 13. Kumkum Mohod, Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma won gold in the women’s recurve team event after defeating South Korea 5-3.
Kumkum Mohod and Dhiraj Bommadevara later reached the mixed recurve team final after defeating Japan 5-3 in the semifinal. They eventually lost 3-5 to China in the gold-medal clash to finish with silver.
In wrestling, Sujeet Kalkal advanced to the men’s freestyle 65kg semifinal after defeating Iran’s Abbas Ebrahimzadehsavadkouhi 10-0 by technical superiority in the quarterfinal. Earlier, he had defeated Afghanistan’s Sayed Omar Zazai 13-3 in the round of 16.
India’s other wrestling results included defeats for Dipanshi against Japan’s Yui Susaki in the women’s 50kg round of 16, Rajat Ruhal against Kazakhstan’s Yedige Kassimbek in the men’s freestyle 125kg round of 16, and Priya against reigning Asian Games champion Kyzy Medet of Kyrgyzstan in the women’s 76kg round of 16.
In other events, India’s women’s rugby sevens team defeated Malaysia 26-5 in a Pool E match, while the men’s volleyball team beat South Korea 3-1 in the classification match for fifth to eighth places.
In track cycling, David Beckham progressed to the men’s keirin semifinal, while Ronaldo Singh was eliminated in the repechage.
In canoe slalom, Pradhyumna Singh Rathod qualified for the men’s kayak cross quarterfinal, while Shikha Chauhan advanced to the women’s kayak cross quarterfinal. Hitesh Kewat was eliminated.
Kashish Malik defeated Hong Kong’s Lam Siu Wai in the mixed individual virtual taekwondo round of 16 before losing to Kazakhstan’s Rita Bakisheva in the quarterfinal.
India also suffered a defeat against Thailand in the women’s sepaktakraw quadrant group match, while Vishnu Saravanan finished fourth in the men’s dinghy sailing event.
With Nethra Kumanan’s bronze, India’s sailing medal haul at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games has increased further, adding to the silver and two bronze medals secured earlier in the competition.
India are currently sixth in the medal tally with 70 medals, including 12 gold, 24 silver and 34 bronze, at the time of reporting.