Asian Games 2026: India Opens Medal Account with Two Silvers

India made a strong start to its Asian Games 2026 campaign, opening its medal account with two silver medals in women’s 10m air rifle. Elavenil Valarivan finished second in the individual event with 252.4 points, narrowly missing gold to Japan’s Taichi Hinata. She had earlier combined with Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod to win silver in the team event, with India scoring 1898.0 points. China took gold with a world-record 1904.2.

India also secured a medal in mixed martial arts through Suchika Tariyal, who reached the semifinals of the women’s 60kg category after defeating Mongolia’s Altan Baigalmaa 2-0. Since both losing semifinalists receive bronze medals, Tariyal has already secured a podium finish. In badminton, India’s women’s team defeated Kazakhstan 3-0 to reach the quarterfinals, where Japan awaits. India’s women’s table tennis team also defeated Singapore 3-2 after recovering from a 1-2 deficit, while the men’s team beat Indonesia 3-0 before losing 0-3 to Iran.