World Yogasana Championships 2026: India extends absolute dominance on Day 3 with 22 gold medals

Host nation India dominated Day 3 of the inaugural World Yogasana Championships in Ahmedabad, elevating its tally to a staggering 22 gold medals, while competitors from Japan, Nepal, and the USA earned historic peak-podium finishes

Hyderabad: Host India took its gold medal tally to double digits, while Nepal, Japan, and the United States of America clinched a gold medal each on the third day of the inaugural World Yogasana Championships, played at the EKA Arena in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

India expectedly dominated the proceedings for the third consecutive day, winning medals in almost every event across all age categories. At the time of writing, the hosts had scaled their impressive tally to 22 gold, 5 silver, and 1 bronze medal.

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Argentina moved to the second spot in the overall standings thanks to Nabila Sol Barraza’s two gold and two silver medals, while Singapore slipped to third with two gold and two bronze. Nepal was one of the biggest movers on the medals tally, climbing to the fourth spot with a collection of one gold, six silver, and three bronze medals.

The inaugural World Yogasana Championships is a landmark event marking a defining moment in the evolution of the sport—transforming an ancient Indian practice into a globally competitive sporting discipline while strengthening its pathway toward official recognition within the Olympic movement. The World Yogasana Championship 2026 is supported by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Ministry of Ayush, Sports Authority of India (SAI), Sports Authority of Gujarat, Gujarat Tourism, and the Gujarat Yogasana Sports Association.

Ritu Mondal, who had won the country’s first individual gold medal in the Traditional Yogasana Senior A Female category, added a team gold to her tally on Saturday. Meanwhile, Japan’s Miyoko Kusunoki (Traditional Yogasana Senior C category), Nepal’s Durga Panta (Forward Bend Senior C Female), and Kemi Blake of the USA (Back Bend Senior B Male) won crucial gold medals to lift their respective countries on the leaderboard.

Expressing her delight, an elated Ritu said, “Winning one gold was a dream come true, but winning two is beyond anything I imagined. Every sacrifice, every setback was worth it. I’m really proud of my performance, but the credit also goes to the ones who have supported me in this journey.”

The results (All Finals):

Traditional Yogasana

Senior C Female: 1. Miyoko Kusunoki (Japan) 58.28, 2. Mahua Mondal (Oman) 57.34, 3. Amutha Rajuveloo (Romania) & Tetyana Tolbatova (Netherlands) 55.97.

Forward Bend Individual

Senior C Male: 1. Dileep Kumar (India) 46.12, 2. Rajendra Rimal (Nepal) 39.31, 3. Dimitriy Volkov (Russia) & Sajaya Attada (USA) 33.97.

Senior C Female: 1. Durga Panta (Nepal) 44.30, 2. Suman Yadav (India) 41.99, 3. Amutha Rajuveloo (Romania) 39.63 & Kamini Maganlal (New Zealand) 39.63.

Back Bend Individual

Senior C Male: 1. Birendra Yadav (India) 38.85, 2. Rajendra Rimal (Nepal) 36.81, 3. Takuro Sato (Japan) 32.00.

Senior B Male: 1. Kemi Blake (USA) 39.23, 2. Tina Khatun (India) 38.10, 3. Tam Hoi Ching (Hong Kong) 36.15.

Senior C Female: 1. Gayatri Devi (India) 36.61, 2. Januka Dhungana (Nepal) 31.14, 3. Kagiso Sebatana (Botswana) 30.35.

Twisting Body Individual

Senior A Male: 1. Anurag Malik (India) 42.61, 2. Karimu Swafi (Tanzania) 39.45, 3. Nathaniel Tan (Singapore) 38.92.

Senior A Female: 1. Nabilla Sol Barraza (Argentina) 43.77, 2. Seema Pawar (India) 43.30, 3. Misaki Yokoyama (Japan) 39.15.

Senior C Female: 1. Kudumula Vanaja (India) 42.75, 2. Durga Panta (Nepal) 40.19, 3. Mahua Mondal (Oman) 39.78.

Senior C Male: 1. Inderjeet (India) 46.64, 2. Dimitriy Volkov (Russia) 35.57, 3. Namaraj Dhungana (Nepal) 35.21.