The Indian men's junior artistic gymnastics team created history by winning a bronze medal in the team event at the 2026 Asian Championships in Zunyi, China, on Friday. This marks India's best-ever finish in the competition.
India secured the bronze with a total score of 224.493, finishing behind China (241.458) and Japan (239.461). They edged out Chinese Taipei (222.961) and Iran (221.994) in a closely contested battle for the podium. The historic team includes Harschit Damodaran, Nishad Narvane, SK Nabigh Ali, Akshat Bajaj, and Mohd Zaid Ansari.
Damodaran, from Uttar Pradesh, was India's best performer in the junior men's competition, qualifying first for the vault final and seventh for the floor exercise final. Bajaj also made the vault final after finishing fifth in qualification.
National coach Rakesh Patra said: "This is a great performance by the junior gymnasts and it's a historic feat. The team has done exceptionally well, while individually too there have been encouraging results, with two gymnasts reaching the vault final. It now remains to be seen how they perform in the coming days."
Meanwhile, uncertainty surrounds the travel plans of the Indian women's team for the Asian Championships, scheduled from June 25-28 and serving as an Asian Games qualifier. Led by Olympian Pranati Nayak, the team was due to leave on Sunday, but visa delays mean the contingent is now likely to travel only on Tuesday morning.
"The online visa application was submitted on June 6. But China has changed its visa process — applications are made online first, and passports are submitted only after approval is granted. We are still awaiting that approval," a source aware of the developments told TOI. "The Gymnastics Federation of India has been making every effort and has also been in touch with the ministry. We are hopeful of receiving the approval by Monday."
The plan is to take a flight at 1 am on Tuesday and reach China by around 10 am, allowing the senior women's team to attend podium training scheduled later that afternoon. "The seniors have their podium training on June 23 and the juniors on June 24. There should not be an issue for the juniors. As for the seniors, we will know more on Monday. If the visas come through, we can still make it in time," the source added. "Everything depends on the visa situation. It is difficult to comment on the exact scenario right now, but if the athletes can get even a few practice sessions, it should not be a major problem."
Besides Pranati, the senior squad comprises Eshitaa Rewale, Anoushka Patil, Nishka Agarwal, and Pratishtha Samant.
