India Secures Shooting Silver at Asian Games 2026

India’s campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 sparked into life on Sunday, and fittingly, it began with the crack of an air rifle.

In the women’s 10m air rifle team event, Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Uttam Maskar and Vidarsa K. Vinod pieced together a composed, clinical performance to deliver India’s first medal of the Games — a silver — with a combined score of 1898.0. Only China stood above them on the podium.

For Elavenil, the day did not stop there.

Having anchored the team effort, she stepped back onto the firing line for the individual final and held her nerve to finish second once again. Another silver. Another medal for India. The country’s tally doubled by the same athlete in the space of a single session, underlining her status as the spearhead of India’s shooting contingent.

While the rifle range produced precision and poise, there was grit and combat brewing elsewhere.

Suchika Tairyal battled her way into the semifinals in the women’s traditional 60kg category in mixed martial arts, guaranteeing at least a bronze medal for India. Her progression means the medal count will tick upward again, whether or not she can break through to the final.

First Gold Medal

The first gold medal of these Asian Games, though, went to the hosts.

Japan’s Takumi Hojo claimed that slice of history, winning the men’s triathlon on Sunday and ensuring the home nation’s anthem was the first to ring out over Aichi-Nagoya.

By mid-afternoon on September 20, India had its foothold in the medal table: two silvers from the rifle range, a secured bronze from the cage, and the sense that this could be the start of something much bigger over the coming days.