India Women Face China in Asian Games Hockey Gold Medal Match Today

India's women's hockey team will play defending champions China for the Asian Games 2026 gold medal today, Friday, October 2, at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium in Kakamigahara. The match starts at 3:30 PM IST. The winner earns a direct place at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

India reached the final with a 2-0 win over South Korea in Wednesday's semi-final. The Koreans defended deep and frustrated India for the first half and most of the third quarter. Ishika Chaudhary broke the deadlock. The second goal came when a cutback from captain Salima Tete deflected off a Korean defender into the net. The result assured India of a medal.

The team has been unbeaten in Japan. India won all five Pool B matches, against Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Singapore, with a goal difference of +63. The closest game was a 3-1 win over hosts Japan. In the last pool match, India beat Singapore 7-0, with Sunelita Toppo scoring twice and India earning 27 penalty corners.

China topped Pool A, where they beat South Korea 3-0, and then edged Japan in a shootout in the other semi-final. Japan and South Korea play for bronze at 1:00 PM IST.

India won the first women's hockey title at the Asian Games in 1982, beating South Korea in the final. They have not won gold since. They finished with bronze at Hangzhou 2023. This is their fourth Asian Games final, and the first time both India's men and women have reached the final at the same Games since 1998. The men play Malaysia for gold on Saturday.