India’s Asian Games Taekwondo Medal Drought Reaches 24 Years
Serkan Çevik
04 Oct 2026
TOYOHASHI, Japan — India’s wait for a taekwondo medal at the Asian Games goes on after its athletes left Aichi-Nagoya 2026 without a podium finish.
Results in Aichi-Nagoya
India sent three athletes, all women: Kashish Malik, Jyoti Yadav and Rupa Bayor. They competed in four medal events. None of them reached the medal rounds.
Kashish Malik had the toughest draw in the women’s −57kg, where she lost 2–0 (18–3, 17–2) to Kim Yu-jin of South Korea, the Paris 2024 Olympic champion in the division. Malik also produced India’s best result of the event. She reached the quarterfinals of the mixed individual virtual taekwondo competition, which was making its Asian Games debut.
One medal since 1986
The numbers explain why the result hurts. India’s only Asian Games taekwondo medal is still Surendra Bhandari’s bronze from Busan 2002. Taekwondo has been on the program at every Asian Games since Seoul 1986, except Beijing 1990.
This comes in a year when Indian sport overall did well. India finished fourth in the medal table with 85 medals, including 21 golds. The gap between India’s overall strength and its taekwondo results is now hard to ignore.
Why India is falling behind
The problem is not a lack of interest. Taekwondo is widely practiced across India at school and club level. The challenge is turning that base into athletes who can beat Asia’s best. Korea, Iran, China, Uzbekistan and Jordan all invest heavily in full-time training, international experience and sports science. Indian fighters rarely get the same level of competition exposure before major events.
Signs of hope for Doha 2030
There are small signs of hope at youth level. India won three taekwondo bronze medals at the 2025 Asian Youth Games in Bahrain. Whether those young athletes can end the drought at the 2030 Asian Games in Doha will depend on how much support the sport gets over the next four years.
