Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the youngest Indian to win an Asian Games gold medal after India defeated Pakistan by 19 runs in the men’s cricket final at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Saturday.

Born on March 27, 2011, Sooryavanshi was 15 years, six months and six days old when India retained the men’s cricket title on October 3. The teenager featured in the playing 11 and made a brisk 15 off nine balls, hitting two sixes, as India posted 211/6 before restricting Pakistan to 192/6 at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin. 

The Bihar batter’s team gold took him past shooter Saurabh Chaudhary, who had held the record since winning the men’s 10m air pistol title at the Jakarta Asian Games in 2018 at the age of 16 years, three months and nine days.

Vaibhav breaks Saurabh Chaudhary’s eight-year record

Saurabh’s victory in Jakarta had come in his first senior international competition. After topping qualification, he shot an Asian Games record of 240.7 in the final to beat Japan’s former world champion Tomoyuki Matsuda, who finished with 239.7. Compatriot Abhishek Verma won bronze. 

Sooryavanshi has now taken the overall gold-medallist record by about nine months. However, the two achievements fall into separate categories: Vaibhav won his medal as part of India’s men’s cricket team, while Saurabh remains the youngest Indian to win an individual Asian Games gold medal.

Youngest gold medallist, but not India’s youngest medallist

Sooryavanshi is now India’s youngest gold medallist in Asian Games history, but he is not the country’s youngest medallist overall.

That distinction remains with roller skater Sanjana Bathula, who was 15 years, three months and 11 days old when India won bronze in the women’s 3000m speed skating relay at Hangzhou 2023. Sanjana’s medal came alongside Karthika Jagadeeswaran, Heeral Sadhu and Aarathy Kasturi Raj. 

Kumkum Mohod joined the list after becoming the first Indian to win an individual recurve archery gold at the Asian Games. The 17-year-old defeated South Korea’s Oh Yejin in a shoot-off and also secured an LA 2028 quota for India. She finished Aichi-Nagoya with two gold medals and a silver. 

Palak Gulia was 17 years and 10 months old when she won the women’s 10m air pistol title at Hangzhou 2023. Her date of birth is November 9, 2005, and she won the final with an Asian Games record score of 242.1. 

India’s young contingent makes its mark

Sooryavanshi’s record capped an Asian Games campaign in which several young Indian athletes reached the podium.

Eighteen-year-old Anahat Singh became the first Indian woman to reach an Asian Games squash singles final and won silver. Born on March 13, 2008, she added the medal to the two bronzes she had won at Hangzhou 2023. 

In shooting, Tilottama Sen, born on April 25, 2008, helped India win silver in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions team event, while Parth Mane, born on November 13, 2007, was part of the silver-winning men’s 10m air rifle team. 

Himanshu Dhillon collected two silvers in the men’s 10m air rifle — one in the team event and another in the individual competition — while 18-year-old wicketkeeper-batter G Kamalini was part of India’s gold-winning women’s cricket campaign.