India won its first medal at the ongoing Asian Games 2026, with the women’s 10m air rifle team claiming the silver medal on Sunday (Sep 20). Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod made India proud with a second-place finish, as shooting remains India’s cornerstone discipline at such multilateral events.
The Indian trio accumulated 1898.0 points to take home a silver medal. China clinched the coveted gold with a world-record score of 1904.2 points. Host Japan finished third, bagging bronze after scoring 1897.1 points. This result also confirms India’s first medal at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
Also read| ‘India is proud of them’: PM Modi extends best wishes to Indian athletes at Asian Games 2026
Earlier, MMA fighter Suchika Tariyal became the first Indian athlete to secure a medal finish after advancing to the semifinals of the women’s Traditional MMA 60kg event, where even the losing semifinalists are confirmed a bronze medal.
Sonam tops as India finish second in shooting
Sonam was India’s top performer in the team event, registering 634.1 points, whereas Elavenil contributed 633.5 and Vidarsa finished with 630.4. As a result, India crossed the 1898-point mark. Moreover, Elavenil and Sonam have also secured their places amongst eight finalists in the individual 10m air rifle event owing to their scores in the team event, and the two Indian women’s shooters now have a chance to win more medals and increase India’s tally at the Games.
Indian Women’s Hockey Shines at Asian Games
The Indian women’s hockey team emphatically began their Asian Games campaign with a 19-0 win over Uzbekistan in their Pool B match on Sunday, with Deepika being the star of the show. She netted eight times in an incredible individual showing, scoring in the 8th, 22nd, 25th, 33rd, 38th, 41st and 54th minutes.
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Meanwhile, the Indian men’s table tennis team beat Indonesia 3-0 in their opening match. Sathiyan Gnanasekaran gave India a lead with an 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 victory over Muhammad Negara in the opening match. Manav Thakkar doubled India's lead after beating Muhammad Junindra 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9 in a hard-fought five-game contest, before Manush Shah completed the 3-0 sweep, beating Affan Pratama 11-9, 11-9, 12-10 in the third match.

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