SportsPosted at: Sep 20 2026 7:14PM


Day 1: India make medal-rich Asian Games start with shooting silvers, hockey routs

New Delhi, Sept 20 (UNI) Two silver medals, a hockey goal-fest, a cricket century, a historic MMA medal and winning starts across the courts — India’s Asian Games campaign burst into life on Sunday with a day of action that stretched from the shooting range to the hockey turf and combat arena.
The first medals came from shooting, where Elavenil Valarivan became the standout figure of India’s opening day. She first teamed up with Sonam Uttam Maskar and Games debutant Vidarsa K Vinod to claim silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event and then returned to win another silver in the individual competition.
Valarivan, who had gone without a podium finish in her previous two Asian Games appearances, came agonisingly close to gold. She shot 252.4 in the final, finishing just 0.6 points behind Japan’s Hinata Taichi, who set an Asian Games record of 253.0. South Korea’s Ban Hyojin took bronze.
If the shooters put India on the medal table, the hockey teams made sure the scorelines grabbed attention.
Deepika Sehrawat produced one of the day’s most eye-catching performances, scoring eight goals as India demolished Uzbekistan 19-0 in their opening Pool B match. The men followed with another statement victory, crushing Indonesia 13-1, with Dilpreet Singh alone accounting for four goals.
There was history in the making in the MMA arena as Suchika Tariyal assured India of a medal by reaching the semifinals of the women’s Traditional 60kg category. Her breakthrough added a new dimension to India’s medal hunt at the Games.
Cricket brought another headline performance, with Shafali Verma smashing an unbeaten 100 off 49 balls to steer India into the women’s gold-medal match. India posted 195 for four before bowling Bangladesh out for 81, completing a 114-run victory.
On the table tennis tables, India’s men and women both opened with 3-0 wins over Indonesia. Sreeja Akula set the tone for the women, while Sathiyan Gnanasekaran gave the men an early advantage, as both teams moved into the next stage of their campaigns.
The women’s badminton team also made a winning start, sweeping aside Kazakhstan 3-0 to book a quarterfinal against Japan.
From the precision of the shooting range to the relentless scoring on the hockey field, the power of the cricket bat and the intensity of the MMA arena, India’s opening day offered a little bit of everything.
And with two medals already secured, another assured in MMA and several teams progressing, the first day ended with India firmly in the thick of the Asian Games medal race.
UNI BDN
Tags: #Day 1: India make medal-rich Asian Games start with shooting silvers# hockey routs
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