Sportswomen of Tamil origin have done well at the ongoing 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, clinching gold in track and indoor events.
In the women’s 4x400 relay, the Indian quartet of Kiran Pahal, Poovamma Machettira, Prachi Choudhary, and Vithya Ramraj clocked 3:29.69 as India powered to the gold medal.
India was third in the relay when anchor Vithya from Tamil Nadu took over. She overtook Chinese runner Zuo Siyu at the bend. She then held off a strong challenge from Bahrain’s last leg runner Salwa Naser, the individual 400m event gold winner and Olympic silver medallist, and raised both her hands as soon as she crossed the finish line.
In addition to anchoring the gold medal-winning women’s 4x400 relay event, Vithya also won silver in the mixed 4x400m relay and bronze in the women’s 400m hurdles. To honour her medal haul, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay announced cash rewards amounting to Rs15.5 million (S$206,591).
“This achievement makes me feel that Indians can achieve anything if we believe in ourselves. Even breaking records at the Olympics is possible,” she told local media.
In squash, Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam won the gold in the women’s singles final by beating India’s Anahat Singh 3-0. With the win, she booked her ticket to the 2028 Los Angeles Games when squash makes its Olympic debut.
The world number five has set her sights on twin targets – becoming the world number one and the Olympic champion.
“I want to improve my ranking by the end of the season to be in the top three in the world. (Being the) world number one and an Olympic gold medal is my goal,” she told Reuters.
