Nagoya, immortal thoughts. The Asian Games 2026 held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan concluded with a grand closing ceremony on Sunday. The players were paraded at the ceremony held at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Nagoya. Shooter Neeru Dhanda, who won two gold and one silver medal from India, led the Indian contingent holding the tricolor.
The closing ceremony began with the national anthem of Japan. After this, players from different countries took part in the parade under the leadership of their respective flag bearers. Neeru Dhanda marched with the Indian tricolor. The ceremony marked the formal end of the more than two-week long Asian Games.
India at number four with 85 medals
India won a total of 85 medals in the Asian Games 2026. These included 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze medals. India finished fourth in the medal table. China finished on top with 341 medals, while Japan came second with 269 medals and South Korea came third with 150 medals.
Athletics, shooting and archery made major contributions to the medal tally for India. India won five gold medals in archery, while in shooting, the performance of Indian shooters including Neeru Dhanda was excellent. Indian players also won gold medals in boxing and wrestling.
Gold also came in cricket, hockey and kabaddi
The Indian men's and women's cricket teams won gold medals. Indian men's and women's teams also won gold medals in hockey. In Kabaddi also, India won gold in both the categories. In cricket, the Indian men's team retained the title by defeating Pakistan in the final. Indian players won many medals in athletics. Shooting, archery, boxing, wrestling, badminton, rowing, table tennis, sailing and other sports also contributed significantly to increasing India's medal tally.
Pranavi Urs created history in golf
In golf, Pranavi Urs achieved a historic feat and won India's first Asian Games gold medal in the women's individual category. Neeru Dhanda was one of the most popular performing players of India in shooting. He won two gold and one silver medals.
Next Asian Games will be held in Doha in 2030
During the closing ceremony, the formal transfer of hosting of the Asian Games was made to Qatar. Now Doha will host the 2030 Asian Games. With this, the journey of the Games held in Nagoya ended and the torch and flag were handed over to Qatar for the next edition.