SportsPosted at: Sep 20 2026 7:36PM


Elavenil's double silver puts her atop India’s Day 1 performers

BD Narayankar
Bengaluru, Sept 20 (UNI) If India's opening day at the Asian Games had to produce one name above the rest, it would be Elavenil Valarivan.
Not because she had the loudest celebration or the biggest scoreline, but because she did something no other Indian performer managed on Day One — she won two medals.
Valarivan first combined with Sonam Uttam Maskar and Vidarsa K Vinod to take silver in the women's 10m air rifle team event. India finished with a score of 1898.0, behind China, but the medal provided an early boost to the country's campaign.
Valarivan was not finished.
She returned to the range for the individual final and once again found herself on the podium. She shot 252.4 to claim another silver, finishing just 0.6 points behind Japan's Hinata Taichi, who took gold with 253.0.
It was a performance decided by the finest of margins. The difference between gold and silver was barely more than the blink of an eye, but Valarivan's composure under pressure ensured that she left the range with her second medal of the day.
Two events. Two medals. One day's work.
That double-medal haul gives Valarivan the clearest statistical case for the No. 1 Indian performer of Day One.
But the opening day was hardly short of contenders.
Shafali Verma produced perhaps the most explosive batting performance of the day, smashing an unbeaten 100 off only 49 balls against Bangladesh in the women's cricket semifinal. Her innings contained nine sixes and three fours and powered India to 195/4 and into the final.
The century was Shafali's maiden white-ball international hundred and also made her the first centurion in Asian Games cricket, adding a piece of history to an innings already overflowing with entertainment.
On the hockey turf, Deepika Sehrawat provided another remarkable individual performance. She scored eight goals as India demolished Uzbekistan 19-0 in their women's Pool B opener.
Eight goals in a single Asian Games match is the sort of performance that needs little embellishment. Deepika repeatedly converted the opportunities created by her teammates as India's attack overwhelmed Uzbekistan.
In MMA, Suchika Tariyal assured India of a medal, giving the country another historic moment on a day when its medal tally began to spread across disciplines.
And then there was PV Sindhu, whose experience and winning habit again came to the fore. She helped India sweep Kazakhstan 3-0 in the women's badminton team event, with Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma also winning their matches. India completed the tie without dropping a game.
Each had a compelling claim to be India's face of the day.
Shafali had the century. Deepika had eight goals. Sindhu had the clean sweep. Suchika had the historic MMA medal.
Valarivan had two medals.
That is ultimately what puts her at the top of India's Day One performers. Her achievement was not built on one spectacular burst but on two medal-winning performances in the same day, including an individual silver decided by just 0.6 points.
The Asian Games is still in its infancy. But on Day One, Elavenil Valarivan already had two medals to show for her work — and a strong claim to the title of India's opening-day star.
UNI BDN
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