The last week of the ninth month began with a rush of medals for Uttar Pradesh athletes at the 20th Asian Games in the Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya, Japan. Three athletes won a silver and two bronzes in track and field events on Monday. So far, Uttar Pradesh’s medal tally stands at one gold, three silver and three bronzes by the Day 9 of the Games.
Ace sprinter Gulveer Singh won a silver medal in the men’s 1500m, whereas Parul Chaudhary and Rohit Yadav bagged a bronze medal in women’s 5000m and men’s javelin throw, respectively.
Aligarh’s Gulveer clocked a personal best of 3:36.72 to win silver, Meerut’s Chaudhary clocked 15:14.61 to finish third, behind gold medallist Winfred Yavi of Bahrain (15:10.18) and silver medallist Nozomi Tanaka of Japan (15:11.65). The 31-year-old had won gold at Hangzhou in 2023.
Rohit, the 25-year-old from Jaunpur, threw the javelin at 84.35m to bag the bronze medal. Fellow Indian Yashvir, who hails from Haryana, came up with a personal best of 85.72m in his sixth and last attempt to claim the silver medal, whereas Sri Lanka’s superstar Rumesh Pathirage claimed the gold with an effort of 88.33m.
Only on Friday, Gulveer upgraded his Hangzhou 2023 bronze to silver in the men’s 10,000m, finishing in 28:29.38. He held off Bahrain’s Albert Kiptoo (bronze, 28:34.38) but was narrowly beaten by Birhanu Balew, who won gold in 28:27.51. The race was described as tactical, with Gulveer praised for his positioning and strong finish in a championship-style final rather than a pure time-trial.
On Monday, Gulveer added a second silver in the men’s 1500m, running a personal best of 3:36.72. This double-medal haul across very different distances underlined his versatility, having previously excelled at 5000m and 10,000m on the global circuit.
For Parul too, it was her second second medal of the Games, following her bronze in the women’s 3000m steeplechase on Sunday. “This is a very important medal in my career. I have no problem running in many events and want to win medals in them. I could not maintain my final kick speed till the end as I am normally a long distance runner, running mainly 5000m and 1000m,” Gulveer said after the event.
It was a big success story for Rohit Yadav, who hails from Dabhiya village in Jaunpur district as he has emerged as the country’s second-best ever in the event behind Neeraj Chopra. Coming from a humble farming family, he initially trained with a makeshift bamboo javelin because his family could not afford proper equipment, before rising through district and national competitions.
Yadav broke the Indian U-18 record in 2019 with 81.75 m and announced himself on the senior stage in 2022, finishing tenth at the World Championships and sixth at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. After an elbow ligament injury in 2023, he returned stronger in 2026, recording successive personal bests of 87.05 m and 87.68 m at meets in India, the latter making him India’s all-time number two. He is a multiple national champion and has represented India at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, where he is seen as a key medal prospect alongside Chopra.
“I was expecting a podium finish at the Asian Games as I was determined for this,” Yadav said after collecting his bronze medal on Monday.
Besides the athletes, cricketer Deepti Sharma won the only gold medal for Uttar Pradesh so far at this Asian Games after Harmanpreet Singh led India to beat Sri Lanka by a huge margin in the women’s cricket final early in the Games.
Meerut’s Jai Kumar was part of silver-winning Indian side in the 4x400m mixed relay, whereas veteran shooter from Khurja, Mairaj Ahmad Khan finished with a bronze medal in men’s skeet team event.
