India ended their campaign at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships 2026 with five medals: one gold, two silver, and two bronze.

 

Tejaswin – Gold (Heptathlon) – 5993 pts (NR)

Pooja – Silver (High Jump) – 1.87m (SB)

Tajinderpal Singh Toor – Silver (Shot Put) – 20.05m

Ancy Sojan – Bronze (Long Jump) – 6.21m

Aadarsh Ram – Bronze (High Jump) – 2.19m

 

However, there were several performances that deserve special mention—athletes who gave their all but missed the podium by a whisker.

 

1) K A Anamika: Kerala’s Anamika is one of the athletes you will be hearing a lot about in the future. She proved her potential by winning gold at the Open Nationals with a lifetime best of 5629 points.

 

At the Asian Indoors, she represented India in the pentathlon (five-event combined event) and registered lifetime bests in three events:

60m Hurdles – 8.97s

Long Jump – 5.75m

800m – 2:21.72

 

She finished fourth overall with 3923 points.

 

2) Praveen Chithravel: India’s national record holder in triple jump had a disappointing outing. Praveen entered the competition with the best personal best among all participants—India’s national record of 17.37m, which he also equalled last year at the Federation Cup.

 

With high expectations, he finished fourth in the men’s triple jump final with a best effort of 16.22m.

 

3) Yogita: The National Open Athletics Championships and South Asian Games gold medallist finished fourth with her best throw of 15.33m, achieved in her second attempt.

 

This was her first-ever international competition. Had she matched her personal best of 16.52m, achieved in September last year, she would have at least secured a bronze medal.

 

4) Abinaya Rajarajan: India’s U20 100m national record holder, Abinaya Rajarajan, clocked a lifetime-best 7.50s in the women’s 60m heats to finish third overall in the heats.

 

However, she did not feature in the final due to a knee injury sustained during the race, where she fell after finishing. According to NNIS Sports, the injury is not serious, and she is expected to return to competition soon.

 

5) Shahnawaz Khan: 2025 National Games and Junior Federation Cup gold medallist,  Shahnawaz Khan is one of India’s most promising long jumpers. In 2025, he breached the 8m mark for the first time, registering 8.04m while competing against Murali Sreeshankar at India’s Bronze Continental Tour.

 

At the Asian Indoors, he narrowly missed a medal, finishing fourth with a best jump of 7.70m—just 12cm short of the podium.