Archive · 21 Sep 2026
Elavenil, Suchika Lead India’s Strong Asian Games Opening Day
India had a very successful opening day at the Asian Games.
Elavenil Valarivan won two silver medals in shooting.
She narrowly missed gold in the individual event by 0.6 points.
Suchika Tariyal reached the semifinals in mixed martial arts and is guaranteed at least a bronze medal.
India’s women’s cricket team beat Bangladesh by 114 runs and reached the final.
Both Indian hockey teams won their first matches by very large margins.
The badminton and table tennis teams also recorded important wins.
Quimcy D’Souza came close to medals in teqball but lost both bronze-medal matches.
India also had competitors finish sixth in swimming and 11th in wushu.
Elavenil Valarivan won individual and team silver medals in women’s 10m air rifle.
Suchika Tariyal reached the women’s traditional 60kg MMA semifinals, guaranteeing India at least a bronze.
India’s women’s cricket team defeated Bangladesh by 114 runs to reach the final.
India’s women’s and men’s hockey teams opened with 19-0 and 13-1 victories, respectively.
India made strong starts in badminton and table tennis, while Quimcy D’Souza missed two teqball bronze medals.
- Who
- Indian athletes and teams, notably Elavenil Valarivan, Suchika Tariyal, and the women’s cricket and hockey teams.
- What
- India won two shooting silvers, secured at least one MMA bronze, reached the women’s cricket final, and recorded several team victories.
- When
- Sunday, during the Asian Games.
- Where
- Nagoya and other venues in Japan, including Nisshin, Kakamilgahara, and Ichinomiya.
- Why
- Indian athletes were competing in their opening events and pursuing medals across shooting, MMA, cricket, hockey, badminton, table tennis, and other sports.
- Shooting
- Elavenil Valarivan won individual and team silver medals in women’s 10m air rifle.
- Individual shooting score
- Elavenil scored 252.4 points, finishing 0.6 behind Japan’s Hinata Taichi.
- Mixed martial arts
- Suchika Tariyal defeated Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa 2-0 to reach the traditional 60kg semifinals.
- Women’s cricket
- India beat Bangladesh by 114 runs after scoring 195 for 4.
- Women’s hockey
- India defeated Uzbekistan 19-0, with Deepika Sehrawat scoring eight goals.
- Men’s hockey
- India defeated Indonesia 13-1, with Dilpreet Singh scoring four goals.
- Teqball
- Quimcy D’Souza lost both her women’s singles and mixed doubles bronze-medal matches.