India secured its first-ever Asian Games medal in mixed martial arts on Sunday after Suchika Tariyal reached the women’s traditional 60kg semifinal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
The 36-year-old defeated Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa 2-0 in the quarterfinal to assure India of at least a bronze medal in MMA, which is making its Asian Games debut.
Tariyal, a former national-level judoka, has also represented India in judo and kurash and won a world title in fighting Jiu-Jitsu in 2024.
She will next face either Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo or Iran’s Arezou Salimighalehtaki for a place in the final.
Indian swimmer Rishabh Das qualified for the men’s 100m backstroke final after clocking 54.85 seconds in the heats. He finished fifth overall and third in his heat.
Utkarsh Patil missed the final, finishing 12th overall in 56.19 seconds, while Rohit Benedicton secured a reserve spot in the men’s 100m freestyle after finishing 12th overall.
India’s women’s table tennis team began its campaign with a 3-0 win over Indonesia. Sreeja Akula, Diya Chitale and Yashaswini Ghorpade secured victories in the three matches.
India will next face Singapore in Group F.
