Bangladesh have secured a medal at the ongoing Asian Games, with wushu athlete Jinnat Akther guaranteed at least bronze after advancing to the semi finals of the women's 52kg category on Tuesday.

Jinnat's path to the medal came in unusual fashion, with the Bangladesh Army athlete already receiving a bye through the opening round before her scheduled quarter final opponent, Indonesia's Tharisa Dea Florentina, was disqualified for failing to make weight.

Under wushu's competition rules, reaching the semi finals guarantees a bronze medal to both losing semi finalists, meaning Jinnat's place in the last four already secures Bangladesh a spot on the medal table regardless of what follows.

Should Jinnat go on to win her semi final, she will progress directly to the final and compete for gold. A defeat instead would still leave her with a guaranteed silver medal, ensuring her final placement improves no matter the outcome.

Jinnat will face China's Wu Di in Wednesday's semi final at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall.

The 22 member field structure meant one athlete received a first round bye before the quarter final stage began, with Jinnat benefiting from that same arrangement after Indonesia's Tharisa Dea had earlier beaten Jennifer Kilapio 2-0 to reach that scheduled meeting.

The Bangladesh Wushu Federation confirmed the guaranteed medal on social media following the disqualification, formally marking Jinnat's achievement as the country's latest addition to its Asian Games medal tally.

Jinnat, who hails from Netrakona and has competed at the national level since 2019 without ever finishing outside first place, is a seven time domestic gold medallist now making her international debut at senior level.

Her achievement also draws comparison to Bangladesh's history in individual event medals at the Games.

Boxer Mosharraf Hossain won the country's first individual medal back in 1986, meaning Jinnat's success arrives almost exactly four decades later in similarly rare territory for Bangladeshi athletes competing outside team sports.