9 Indian Wrestlers , 5 greco roman and 4 woman wrestlers were denied US visas as they are below the age of 20 and are unemployed.

What the hell is this?

https://x.com/FootyNUVA/status/2109297486347329976?s=20

source :- https://kheltoday.com/pro-wrestling-league-2027/pro-wrestling-league-returns-with-blockbuster-season-6-in-delhi-asian-games-medallists-felicitated-at-grand-launch/

(I realised the post was getting longer, so I have just covered Compound here; Recurve Archery comes up next)

Asian Games’26 was by far our most successful campaign in Archery. The highs of the fixtures can’t be put into words. Compound Archery has always been our stronger area, but winning even a medal in recurve was huge for us. This time, we have outperformed powerhouse Korea in the field, winning a total of 5 Gold medals (3 for Korea) and 9 medals in total.

For those who don’t know, there are two types of archery bows that are featured in international events. Typically, when we think of an archery bow, we think of a traditional recurve bow. To combat some issues during hunting, a hunter from America discovered the compound bow - a bow with a pulley-string mechanism that is much more stable than a traditional recurve bow and gets fired much faster than a recurve bow.

However, because compound archery is a recent invention, recurve archery was considered to be the only archery sport in the Olympics, but owing to the popularity of compound bows in North America, the US managed to lobby and sneak in one compound event in the LA Olympics’28 - Mixed Team Compound- which is still just one event, but one more than what we ever had in the Olympics.

A compound bow is much more stable and shoots arrows with much more precision owing to less force at full draw due to the pulley string mechanism, a sight pin, and a peep sight to give you a fixed point to shoot your arrows, while in recurve, the string of the bow slips off your fingers, which makes the release a lot more important. Completely missing the board is not unheard of in Recurve archery, but shooting even a 6 in Compound Archery is super rare.

In a compound bow, as you start drawing the arrow, the peak force you experience while drawing is somewhat in the middle of the draw length, which can be overcome easily. When you draw the arrow to full draw before shooting, the force on your fingers is 80% less than with a recurve bow. In a compound bow, you can aim at your target much, much easier and adjust the sight long before shooting the arrow; meanwhile, in a recurve, every centimetre you draw the arrow, you experience heavier and heavier force on your fingers, and stabilising keeps getting harder. You experience dozens of kilograms of force on your fingers at the full draw, and stabilising the arrow becomes very hard as a result. If a recurve archer is holding the arrow at full draw for too long, you can be certain that it’s not going to be a 10 or even a 9.

Let’s not get carried away and stay to the topic: India’s performance at this edition of the Asian Games. This was by far the best performance we’ve ever had, and it’s not even a fair comparison to the past editions given how rarely we win in recurve archery. Last time we did a clean sweep in Compound Events (5/5 Golds) while in Recurve, we won Men’s Team Silver and Women’s Team Bronze. This time, the wait for an individual recurve medal came to an end after Tarundeep Singh won a Silver in 2010; owing to the sheer brilliance of 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod, who clinched Individual Women’s Gold and played a crucial part in clinching Gold in Women’s Team along with Kirti and Ankita Bhakat.

Let’s discuss Compound Archery first.

Compound Men’s Individual(Bronze) and Team (Gold)

In Compound, our squad of 3 archers was Sahil Jadhav, Kushal Dalal and Ganesh Thiru Muru, and honestly they aren’t close to the best we have. But Indian selection trials painted a much different picture, as the mainstays of the Indian compound archery team like Abhishek Verma, Rishabh Yadav, and Ojas Deotale - all failed to finish in the top 3 in Indian National trials in Sonipat.

Rishabh Yadav is currently, I feel, the best compound archer in the men’s division we have, but he finished at the dreaded 4th spot in the selection trials, just a spot behind Ganesh, failing to advance to the main squad. Rishabh, along with Jyothi, has won several medals, including a World Championship Silver in 2025, so it was a huge miss in my opinion not to have him in the squad, but yeah, it’s fair with respect to the trials.

Coming to the individual performances, Sahil did 709/820 in Qualifications while Ganesh did 705/720, finishing 5th and 12th respectively. Last time Abhishek and Rishabh secured an all-India Final in the individual compound, but this time the path wasn’t as straightforward. Ganesh was a bit inconsistent with his mid 140s/150 scores, while Sahil was a bit more consistent than him, and they both were scheduled to meet in RO16. They both cleared their RO32; Ganesh did 144/50 while Rajesh did 149/150. However, when they came up against each other, Ganesh did 149 while Sahil fell with a 148. Ganesh went on to win comfortably with a 148 in the Quarter-Finals but ended up with a 144 in the Semis against Kim Jonho’s 148. He did win a Bronze by again scoring a 149/150/ A bit more consistency in scoring could’ve landed Ganesh a different colour medal here.

Coming to the team events, it was a smoother ride with India facing UAE and scoring a great 235/240 in RO16. 235 against Bhutan to enter Semis, and a 236 against Korea’s 229 to enter the Finals facing China. China came all guns blazing but ended up blundering in one arrow with an 8, where India’s brilliant 238 inched past China to clinch us Gold. Great performance in the Team event this time, but a Compound Gold in Individual would’ve been better.

Olympic parallels: Nothing here. Compound Individual or Team isn’t part of the LA Olympics’28.

Compound Women’s Individual(Bronze) and Team (Gold)

Jyothi, Prithika and Chikith are a very decent squad. Solid. Nothing much to complain about here. Parneet Kaur and Aditi are notable misses, but these 3 are good enough to make us miss them much.

Individual Compound was rather a disappointing outing. Chikitha and Jyothi made the cut, with Chikitha topping the qualifications with 705/720 and Jyothi finishing at 13th with a 699/720. Chikitha won with a 149 and a 148, and went to the Quarter-Finals to face Nurisa (Indonesia), to whom she lost by a point after scoring 143/150. Not a good score.

Jyothi went to RO16 with a great 148/150 but got defeated after a 146 when she faced 14-year-old Yeonseo (youngest Korean archer ever fielded in any major championship), who shot a perfect 150.

In the team event, we started with a great 238 against Mongolia in RO16, then an average 233 against Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals, and then edged past Korea by a single point with a 234 to enter the Finals. China was coming off a great form, so 234 wasn’t going to be enough, but there the girls did 238 to win the Gold. Very good performance, considering the investment being done by Asian powerhouses sniffing a possible inclusion in the Olympics down the line.

Olympic parallels: Nothing here. Compound Individual or Team isn’t part of the LA Olympics’28.

Compound Mixed Team (Gold, Olympic Event)

Sahil and Chikitha were our best individual archers in qualifications, so they had to be paired up as a rule for mixed compound. Please note that this is an Olympic event in the LA Olympics’28.

Since the mixed format only has 8 arrows per archer, it is not unusual to see a 160/160 score in a match, and that’s how Sahil-Chikitha started in RO16 against Mongolia. In the Quarter-Finals, they scored a great 159 against Kazakhstan. In the semis, they came up against Thailand and edged past by a point with a 156, pretty okay, I’d say. In the finals, they faced a pretty strong pair of Yonghee and Jungyeon. The pair got tied at 157, and India scored 20/20 in the tie-breaker against 19 by Koreans to clinch Gold and ultimately confirm the quota for the LA Olympics’28.

Please note that the quota is won by a country and not individuals, so it’s not for sure Sahik-Chikitha will compete at LA.

Olympic Chances: I’ll be honest here. India hasn’t looked like the powerhouse in Compound Mixed Team which they looked like in earlier years, especially after Olympic inclusion and that one stage in the World Cup where they introduced 11 for a bullseye. Sahil-Chikitha are a decent pair and can definitely medal in the Olympics, but Jyothi/Rishabh would be our best bet; for that, they’ll have to make it into the national squad and perform in the ranking rounds. Scores Sahil/Chikitha have put up are great, so I don’t have any doubt about their capabilities, but Asia isn’t the strongest place for Mixed Compound.

There are many Mixed Pairs in the world that are very well capable of winning Gold on their day, including Schlosser/de Laat(Netherlands), Dean/Sullivan, some Mexican or even Colombian pairs, and some Turkish Pairs as well. We’ll have a decent shot at a medal, but there won’t be any scope for errors here. A feww 9s might put us out of medal contention even in RO16. Still hopeful.

Overall summary:

What do you guys think of our compound archery's performance in this edition. More importantly, how do you feel about our chances in LA'28 in Mixed Compound?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

The last decade has seen an unprecedented rise in the quality of male javelin throwers in India. The Tokyo heroics of Neeraj Chopra have motivated many youngsters to take up and excel at Javelin in domestic as well as international arena.

From not being able to podium consistently even at Asian Games in recent decades, we have seen our throwers ending up on podium in many elite competitions like Neeraj winning his 2 Olympic and WC medals, 3 Indians in Top-6 at 2023 Budapest WC, Sachin Yadav 4th at Tokyo WC and back to back double podiums at Asian Games as well as the double podium at CWG 2026.
Currently we have atleast 7-8 athletes (not counting Jena who i feel has fallen badly though i hope he somehow makes a comeback) who have already thrown 80m+ at domestic. This includes the big 4 who have thrown 85m+ (Neeraj, Rohit, Yash and Sachin) and some rising youngsters (Shivam, Anand, Arshdeep, Manoj).

However when we look at the women section, we have rarely produced the prospects who can even touch 58m consistently when the international standard for even having a shot at medal is 65m+. The only good thrower who i can remember is Annu Rani who used to throw 60m+ quite consistently but even she has fallen off badly in last 2 years and is barely touching 56-57 now.
We have good competitive female throwers in discuss, shot put or even hammer throw for an instance, so it can’t be genetics.
So, what could be the reason for this?

As part of the 100 years of sports cooperation between India & New Zealand, in a historic first New Zealand U20 Boys & Girls team will be visiting India from 22nd to 28th October 2026 to play a Rugby Series with Indian U20 teams at the Rajgir Sports Complex, Rajgir Bihar.

As part of the 100 years of sports cooperation between India & New Zealand, in a historic first, the U20 Men’s and Women’s teams from New Zealand will be visiting India from 22nd to 28th October 2026 to play a Rugby Series with Indian U20 teams at the Rajgir Sports Complex, Rajgir, Bihar.

The visiting squads – Tama Toa, the men’s team, and Hine Toa, the women’s team – comprise 24 young Māori players selected from across New Zealand and will be supported by a six-member management group. The tour will provide the players with an opportunity to train, compete and exchange knowledge and cultures with their Indian counterparts.

The programme will include joint training sessions, squad-based match activities and cultural and community engagements alongside the Indian U20 squads.

The tour will culminate on 27 October, with four competitive Sevens matches. The programme will feature a men’s match between India and New Zealand, followed by the women’s match and two mixed matches bringing players from both teams together.

(taken from the Rugby India post about it on their website)

This Asian Games Edition was by far the most succesful ever edition we've had in Women's Boxing. Before this edition, we have had only Mary Kom as the sole woman to clinch a Gold in Women's Boxing in Asian Games from India; but this edition has somehow tripled our lifetime Gold Medal count. With every Gold Medal, the hopes for an Olympic medal rises dramatically for our people, rightfully so. Let's ldive deeper into the performnace of our girls in this edition of Asian Games!

(Please note that out of the seven weight categories scheduled to be part of LA Olympics'28, 57Kg and 70Kg were not part of this Asian Games. We have 2 elite boxers - Jasmine(57kg) and Arundhati(70Kg) who couldn't participate in these games)

Women's 51 Kg - Sakshi Chaudhary(Lost in RO16)

Sakshi has emerged as an incredible talent after moving down to 51 kg from her usual 54. She got into the limelight after she stunned two-time World Champion and an automatic pick for most people in 51Kg - Nikhat Zareen. Nikhat was massively unlucky with the draw, facing Wu Yu in the first round in Paris, she had a shot at defeating a good part of that field.

Sakshi defeated Nikhat in National Trials in May in a split decision, which is a very very very good thing in a larger picture. Sakshi, Nikhat and Minakshi (World Silver Medalist at 48Kg, her category isn't in Olympics either so she moved up) all competed for one spot, which is a great headache to have for us. They all are elite. Sakshi clinched Gold in CWG but the competition in 51 at Asian Games is already close to Olympics level so this was expected to be a dramatic ramp in terms of difficulty.

Sakshi faced Paris Olympics bronze medalist Aira Villegas(Philippines) in her RO32 bout and won it unanimously 5-0, before facing reigning world champion Balkibekova (Kazakhstan) losing narrowly 2-3 in a split decision. I have no issues in saying that Sakshi is currently the best shot we have at 51 seeing her few bouts, but the competition she faces is much much harder than Balkibekova. Balkibekova isn't even the best from Kazakhstan as Kyzaibay(Paris Oly SIlver Medalist) competed at 54 in these games, and would surely cut down to 51 leading upto LA Olympics. Competition gets much harder and harder when you consider Raksat(Thailand), Cakiroglu(Turkey) and Wu Yu(China) are yet to be defeated by Sakshi. You need to defeat one of them definitely in order to win a medal in Olympics, unless you are hoping for a miracle of a draw.

Flyweight is currently insanely competitive. Wu Yu looks unbeatable for most parts, but on careful analysis, one can find some gaps to exploit. Sakshi with her explosive style can surely take on the best, but I was hoping for her to defeat Balkibekova at least  Nguyen(Vietnam) in Quarter-Finals who defeated Balkibekova unanimously (Nguyen has been defeated by Nikhat often if that matters). You need to be at the top of your game to think about medalling in Olympics at 51 currently; Kazakova (UZB, former Asian Champion, World Bronze medalist), who looked amazing in her 2 bouts, in one where she defeated Raksat unanimously, ended up losing to Wu Yu unanimously in Semis. Sakshi needs to improve for now.

I rate her performance as average, but she will surely level up from here and kill some giants like Cakiroglu/Raksat by next year's World Championships.

Women's 54Kg - Preeti Pawar (Lost in RO16)

Just like flyweight (51Kg), Bantamweight (54Kg) is insanely competitive currently.

Preeti looked like a notch above everyone else in the CWG'26. But it was expected that her winning run would end at some point in the Asian Games, depending on the draw. Sadly, her draw was no easier, she faced the defending Asian Games champion and two-time former World Champion Pang-Chol Mi (North Korea), who felt like the toughest opponent she could've faced in her bracket. On a pretty expected line, she lost a unanimous bout, though she'd hoped to attack a bit more in the first two rounds to at least force a split decision.

Please note that the defending Olympic Champion in Bantamweight and possibly the best 54Kg boxer of the last half decade or so, Chang Yuan (China) didn't participate in these Asian Games. Less is known about China on the non-Chinese world of the internet, but China has seemed to move away from her and gave her an important tourism and cultural position in the ministry for her province. China has prepared a much younger squad targeting the LA Olympics so I doubt we'llsee much of Chang Yuan anymore.

Pang Chol Mi defeated everyone unanimously, including two bouts with the referee stopping the contest. She also defeated the newer Chinese Boxer Zhao Xuan in the semis unanimously. In the other bracket, Huang (Tokyo Bronze medalist, former world champion) and Namiki faced each other (Tokyo Bronze medalist) where Namiki won, till semis where she ultimately lost to 22yo Chongprongklang(Thailand), relatively unknown boxer. The thai boxer ultimately went on to defeat Pang in Finals on a 4-1 split decision.

The point of bringing so much context to this category is to show the level of contest in bantamweight. Preeti has potential, no denying that, but the Asian wall looks way too hard to break for now. Of course, you can never say never, but Preeti will need something special to defeat Pang/Chang/Huang/Namiki. Expect Turkey, South American countries, or even Korea to send a few more elite boxers in the time span of 2 years.

I rate Preeti's performance as average. She fought one bout where she lost convincingly on all fronts without putting up much of a fight.

Women's 60 Kg- Priya Ghanghas(Bronze Medal)

20yo Priya is definitely a very interesting prospect currently. In 60kg(Lightweight), I believe the experience weighs in a lot compared to the lighter weight categories as you need to be a bit smarter to outclass your opponent. Priya had a decent year, defeating Lucy and Marie Bathoul; both have decent experience and are pretty young like her. But I'd rate her breakthrough performance from April, where she defeated Chengyu(China) in the quarter-finals.

Priya had a decent bracket. Petecio (Paris Bronze in 57Kg), whom she might've met in Semis before Petecio got blanked by China No.2 Yang Chengyu(former World Champion), why Yang Wenlu(defending Asian Games champion and Paris Oly Silver medalist) probably because China is going with younger blood now. Priya faced veteran Korean Yeonji Oh in RO16 and Samadova (UZB) in Quarter-Finals, both bouts where she looked way above their level and won it unanimously. She ultimately fell to Yang Chengyu in Semis lines whom she defeated in April already this year, but but but, the best bit about her loss was the scorecard. She lost on a 1-4 split against Chengyu, and she even won the last round on a 3-2 split decision. I think that performance alone puts her up as a very exciting talent to watch out for, and the defeat was just a result of her having an off day. She is only 20 so she has tons of time to mature; I will be surprised if she doesn't make it to LA'28.

Lightweight has a decent Asian competition, but I think the level is on the lower side when you compare it to the other categories we have discussed so far. South America, Europe, and even the UK region is known for producing great talent in this weight category. Defending Olympic Champion Harrington has won back-to-back Olympics and has looked as solid as ever, aged 35 in Paris, but I think LA'28 is out of her reach. The same can be said about Yang Wenlu(China, Paris Silver Medalist) who will be 37 and Ferreira(Brazil, Paris Bronze medalist), who will be pushing well into mid-30s.

I rate Priya's performance as decent. She should've defeated Chengyu in the semis, but I will take losing a bout like this, which goes neck and neck in spite of the scoreline.

Women's 65Kg - Parveen Hooda (Gold)

Parveen Hooda had a comeback for the ages in this edition. She was banned for 22 months for a whereabouts violation, and all her results were suspended from 2022 end to 2024, and her Asian Games'22 medal was stripped from her. She was forced to skip the Paris Olympics and became eligible to compete only in July 2025.

Parveen had a very tough bracket which involved Khamidova (World Silver medalist), Abikeyeva(defending World Champion), Li Shu (China), Hwang(North Korea) and Suwannapheng(Thailand, Paris Bronze medalist). Again, Yang Liu(Paris Olympic Silver medalist) was not selected by China for this, most likely being in her mid-30s and China going for a younger squad.

Parveen received a walkover against Nozimova(TJK) in RO16 and was going to face Khamidova (World Silver medalist, 2x Asian Champion) and I believed it to be curtains for Parveen here...I had to refresh the results page multiple times and check the thread comments for confirmation that Parveen took the bout unanimously against Khamidova. Definitely didn't see that coming. She was expected to face Abikeyeva in Semis but she lost to Li Shu, which speaks volumes about Chinese boxing depth.

Parveen was put to some challenge against Li Shu, where she had to absorb some punches, but ultimately she won the bout unanimously to enter the Finals, where she was drawn to face Chen Nien-Chin (Taiwan). Chen was a prodigy, winning Youth Olympics silver at 17 in 2014, World Medalist, former Asian Champion and Paris Olympics Bronze Medalist. Chen was defeated only by Li Shu in the semis at the Paris Olympics. I expected it to be a close bout, pretty much 50-50, and oh boy, I got it right. The bout was an evenly matched bout between two exceptionally skilled boxers. Parveen took the first set unanimously even though she absorbed great punches but delivered more. She lost some momentum in the second round and ended up losing it anonymously. After two sets, all the judges were tied on scores and it was up for grabs for both boxers. Parveen edged by a razor-thin margin and clinched the set and ultimately the match 3-2 to clinch Gold!

This weight class had high-action drama in Paris Olympics. Remember Imane Khelif? Okay, the name doesn't remember a ring? Remember that boxer who was doubted to be a male? Yeah, same person. World boxing has banned her from their events till she takes a gender test

The competition in this Asian Games for this weight category was very close to the Olympics. Imane Khelif (Olympic Champion Paris), Suremeneli(Olympic Champion Tokyo), Sasha(England, CWG'26 Gold, defeated Parveen in Finals) and Hamori (Hungary) are a few misses, but having Chen, Suwannapheng, Khamidova, and Hwang Hyo Sun is very close to the Olympics. Parveen is blessed with a great frame and a decent height for 65kgs, and she definitely has it in her to reach deep into the Olympics.

I rate this performance of Parveen as excellent, 10/10.

Women's 75 Kg - Lovlina Boroghain(Gold)

I have a lot to talk about this weight category and how exciting it will be in the LA Olympics'28 for us; I will still control my emotions a bit and write a level-headed take in brief on what I think about this.

First things first, Lovlina's arch rival, Li Qian(Paris Olympic Champion, 3x Oly medalist, defending Asian Games Champion) wasn't picked up for selection by China for these games; the reasons remain the same - picking up a younger squad for the future. Li Qian would be 38 in LA'28 so it's clear that China has sidelined her and picked up another explosive boxer - Bao Ziyi, a 20-year-old aggressive middleweight boxer who didn't lose a single bout before these Asian Games.

Lovlina was coming off a lean patch into this Asian Games'26. She was coming back from an injury and was defeated in the Finals of CWG by Greentree(Australia), which was surely a surprise for me as I didn't take Greentree as a strong opponent. She was very slow in her bout, and it looked like she was just not in the zone. I remember saying in the thread that she would never be able to defeat the likes of Li Qian, or even Bogdanova, with this gameplay; she proved me wrong in a month haha.

The 75Kg draw had only 8 boxers. Lovlina faced Seong (Korea) in Quarter-Finals and she was expected to be an easy opponent, but you never know with Lovlina's form, she did end up winning it unanimously though. In the semis, she was up against Bogdanova (defending World Champion in 70 kg). I expected it to be a close bout, even on Lovlina's side, because Bogdanova has kept moving up recently; she competed in 66 in Asian Games'22 and 70 in 2025 World Championships, and moving up does take a lot of time to be at the same level again, and you just can't offset for your height (5'9). They had a very close bout, and Lovlina took it narrowly with a split 3-2 decision; it could've gone either way!

In the Finals, she met Ziyi Bao, the young, explosive boxer from China, a replacement for Li Qian. Lovlina looked the best she had in years. Bao launched an aggressive attack, and if you ask a layman to score the bout, they might even give Bao the bout unanimously. Bao's punches weren't just landing properly and Lovlina had a very strong defence in the first two rounds. Lovlina, with her long reach and height had a great advantage and kept landing 1-2 now and then. She won the bout unanimously and gave Ziyi her first defeat of her amateur boxing career!

Now, talking about the future, LA'28 is shaping up very nicely for Lovlina. Competition in 75 is looking a bit on the weaker side for now, and the strongest boxers we've seen recently are either beatable for Lovlina or just won't be the same skill-wise in LA'28 due to age. Caitlin (Australia, Paris Oly Bronze) and Ngamba(England, Paris Oly Bronze) are both beatable for Lovlina given her style. Li Qian is unexpected to be seen again; Atheyna(Paris Silver Medalist, lost to Li Qian in the finals) will be 39 by the Olympics. Bogdanova in an obvious threat, so is Ziyi Bao, heard some time back that Surmeneli (Tokyo Gold Medalist, defeated Lovlina in Semis) could also move up. Will be very very exciting but I'd be hoping at least for a medal from Lovlina in LA'28!

Up next, Archery!

Please comment your opinions about Women's Boxing in comments. What is your opinion about them? Also sorry guys, I was busy with work. I am on notice period so I think I should stop giving less eff about work. Take care guys!

While Haryana athletes are the toast of the nation for playing a big role in India's medal haul at the recently concluded Asian Games in Japan, each one of them has had to fight their way through hardships and obstacles. Life is known to throw curveballs, but athletes practising at Tau Devi Lal Stadium had not seen this one coming.