The recently concluded Asian Games 2026 at Aichi-Nagoya gave the Rajasthan Royals faithful plenty to cheer about with multiple athletes from both Rajasthan and the Northeast contributing to India’s rich medal haul in Japan.
With Jaipur and Guwahati serving as Rajasthan Royals’ home bases in the Indian Premier League, both regions are inextricably linked to the franchise and its fans, making their strong showing at the Asian Games all the more significant.
India closed the Games with 85 medals, 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze, to finish fourth behind China, Japan and South Korea. It was the country's second-best Asian Games return after the last edition at Hangzhou.
Athletes from Rajasthan, Assam, Manipur and Mizoram won or played a part in winning 11 of those medals.
Four were gold, in boxing, cricket and both hockey tournaments. There were two silvers, in weightlifting and wushu, and five bronzes across shooting, sepaktakraw and athletics.
From a boxer who marked her birthday with gold to a hockey player who ended a long 44-year wait with a single strike on her 200th India appearance, here are the athletes from Rajasthan and the Northeast who left their mark.
Lovlina Borgohain (Golaghat, Assam)
Gold - Women's 75kg boxing
Lovlina Borgohain saved one of the biggest results of her career for her birthday. The Olympic bronze medallist beat China's Bao Ziyi 5-0 in the final on October 2, the day she turned 29.
The win made her only the second Indian woman to win an Asian Games boxing gold, after Mary Kom in 2014. Having taken 75kg silver at Hangzhou, she also became the first Indian woman boxer to reach back-to-back Asian Games finals.
The youngest of three daughters of a farming family in Golaghat district, Borgohain had set herself a clear target in Japan. “I had to gift a gold medal to myself on my birthday,” she said after her bout.
Ravi Bishnoi (Jodhpur, Rajasthan)
Gold - Men's T20 cricket
One of Rajasthan Royals and Rajasthan’s own, Ravi Bishnoi was part of the India side that defended its men's cricket title, beating Pakistan by 19 runs in the final.
Bishnoi started out as a medium pacer and turned to leg spin at his coaches' suggestion. He first drew national attention as the leading wicket-taker at the 2020 Under-19 World Cup.
Bishnoi’s Royals teammate Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, from Bihar, was also part of the squad and established a significant record by becoming the youngest Indian to ever win a gold medal at the Asian Games.
Lalremsiami and Lalthantluangi (Mizoram), Sushila Chanu and Bichu Devi Kharibam (Manipur)
Gold - Women's hockey
India's women ended a 44-year wait for an Asian Games hockey gold, beating China 1-0 in the final and sealing a direct place at the LA 2028 Olympics. Four members of the squad came from the Northeast.
The winning goal in the final against reigning champions China belonged to Lalremsiami Hmarzote. The Mizoram forward, playing her 200th senior international, struck in the 10th minute for the only goal of the match.
Lalremsiami also holds the distinction of the first woman from her state to represent India at the Olympics during Tokyo 2020. Her statemate Lalthantluangi was also part of the champion squad.
Two Manipuri women also played an integral role in the historic triumph.
Sushila Chanu, the former India captain from Imphal, anchored the defence, while goalkeeper Bichu Devi Kharibam, also from Imphal, complemented
Nilakanta Sharma (Imphal, Manipur)
Gold - Men's hockey
Nilakanta Sharma added a second Asian Games gold to the one he won at Hangzhou as India's men beat Malaysia 5-1 in the final to defend their title and book their own LA 2028 berth.
The midfielder, a bronze medal winner at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, hails from Imphal and learned the game in Manipur before moving through the academy system to Bhopal.
Mirabai Chanu (Nongpok Kakching, Manipur)
Silver - Women's 49kg weightlifting
Mirabai Chanu finally has an Asian Games medal. She lifted 198kg - 87kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk - to take silver in the 49kg category at Aichi-Nagoya 2026.
It was India's first weightlifting medal at the Asian Games since Karnam Malleswari's silver at Bangkok 1998, closing a 28-year gap for the country in a sport Chanu has carried for a decade.
The triumph in Japan was special for Mirabai Chanu on a personal level too, as an Asian Games medal was the only major podium finish missing from the ace weightlifter’s remarkable list of achievements. She had missed the 2018 Jakarta Games through injury and finished fourth at Hangzhou, after sustaining an injury.
Naorem Roshibina Devi (Bishnupur, Manipur)
Silver - Women's 60kg sanda wushu
Roshibina Devi made her own piece of history at Aichi-Nagoya 2026. Her silver in the 60kg sanda final was her third medal in as many Asian Games, after bronze in 2018 and silver in 2023.
That run makes the daughter of a farmer from Bishnupur district the first Indian wushu athlete ever to win medals at three successive Games.
She left Aichi-Nagoya with unfinished business, saying she wants to upgrade the colour of the medal next time.
Maheshwari Chauhan (Jalore, Rajasthan)
Bronze - Women's skeet team
Maheshwari Chauhan, alongside Raiza Dhillon and Parinaaz Dhaliwal, shot India to bronze in the women's skeet team event, bringing home the country's first Asian Games medal in the discipline.
Chauhan, who learned to shoot at her family's private range in Siana, in Jalore district, had lost out on a bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympics by a whisker.
In 2017 she became the first Indian woman to win a skeet medal at an international event.
Anantjeet Singh Naruka (Jaipur, Rajasthan)
Bronze - Men's skeet team and mixed skeet team
Anantjeet Singh Naruka left Japan with two medals.
The Jaipur shooter combined with Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill for men's skeet team bronze and then partnered Parinaaz Dhaliwal for bronze in the mixed skeet team event - also India's first Asian Games medal in that discipline.
It extended a pattern from Hangzhou, where he also returned with two skeet medals.
Akash Yumnam, Malemnganba Singh Sorokhaibam and Lokhon Singh Elangbam (Manipur), Amarjit Singha (Assam)
Bronze - Men's quadrant sepaktakraw
India's men closed their sepaktakraw campaign with bronze in the quadrant event, the country's third Asian Games medal in the sport and its first in this format.
The core of the squad which bagged the historic medal was from the Northeast. For Akash Yumnam, who hails from a village near Imphal and once worked as a daily wage labourer to make ends meet, it was his fourth Asian Games and a second medal after a bronze in 2018.
Dharmveer Choudhary (Tonk, Rajasthan)
Bronze - Men's 4x400m relay
Rajasthan quarter-miler Dharmveer Choudhary was a member of the Indian men's 4x400m relay that clocked 3:01.61 to take bronze in Japan.
The son of a truck driver, Choudhary had once chased his dream of joining the army but is now helping India chase down medals on the track. He is fast establishing himself as one of the country’s best in the 400m and was also part of a relay silver at the Asian Championships in Gumi last year.
