SportsPosted at: Sep 26 2026 12:22PM


Anahat comeback, archery leaders headline India's Day 7 charge

Nagoya, Sep 26 (UNI) Young Indian stars produced a series of eye-catching performances across squash, archery and athletics at the Asian Games here on Saturday, with Anahat Singh completing a stunning comeback to reach the squash final while Dhiraj Bommadevara and Chikitha Taniparthi topped their respective archery qualification rounds.
Anahat delivered the day's most dramatic performance, overturning a two-game deficit against Japan's Satomi Watanabe to win 3-2 and storm into the women's singles final.
The Indian went down 9-11 and 11-13 in the opening two games and appeared on the brink of elimination. But she refused to buckle under pressure, saving game balls in the third before edging it 12-10.
Anahat then levelled the contest with an 11-6 win in the fourth game before completing the turnaround in emphatic fashion, racing to an 11-3 victory in the decider.
The comeback put Anahat one match away from an Asian Games gold and underlined her ability to withstand pressure on the continental stage.
Archery produced another strong Indian showing, with Dhiraj Bommadevara topping the men's recurve qualification with 641 points.
Neeraj Chauhan and Yashdeep Bhogal contributed 620 and 609 points respectively as India finished third in the men's team qualification with 1870 points.
In the women's compound qualification, Chikitha Taniparthi went to the top of the standings with 705 points. Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Prithika Poornima finished 12th and 20th with 699 and 695 respectively, taking India's team total to 2099 points and second place.
The performances give India a strong platform heading into the knockout stages, with the archers now carrying the momentum of topping individual qualification.
Athletics also provided a glimpse of India's emerging sprint strength as national record holder Animesh Kujur won his 200m heat in 21.10 seconds to advance to the semifinals.
Kujur, who owns the Indian national record in the event, will return to the track later on Saturday with a place in the final at stake.
In the decathlon, Tejaswin Shankar moved into second place after two events following a 7.53m long jump, the best effort of the competition so far. The effort earned him 942 points.
Compatriot Thowfeeq Noushad also produced a 7.37m effort for 903 points and remained in contention near the top of the standings.
India's canoe sprint campaign saw Parvathy Geetha and Prasanna Kumar qualify for the mixed kayak doubles 500m final after finishing second in their semifinal in 1:53.031.
Harshwardhan Shaktawat narrowly missed a place in Final A in the men's kayak single 500m, finishing fourth in his semifinal in 1:50.543.
In fencing, India's men's sabre team defeated the Philippines 45-27 in the Round of 16, while the women's foil team beat Indonesia 45-24 to reach the quarterfinals.
The Indian men's sabre team will face the Republic of Korea and the women's foil team will take on Japan in the last eight.
The day's results presented a picture of an Indian contingent making its presence felt across a wider range of disciplines, with Anahat's dramatic squash comeback and India's strong start in archery providing particularly encouraging signs as the competition moves deeper into its final stages.
UNI BDN
Tags: #Anahat comeback# archery leaders headline India's Day 7 charge
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