Nagoya: India opened its medal account at the 2026 Asian Games with a silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event, while Suchika Tariyal also assured the country of a medal in traditional 60kg MMA on Sunday.
Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod combined for a team score of 1898 points to finish second behind China and secure India’s first medal of the Games.
Elavenil led the Indian effort with 633.5 points and also qualified for the individual final. Sonam also made it through to the individual final, giving India further medal opportunities in the shooting competition.
China finished ahead of India in the team standings, while Japan ended fourth. Korea remained in contention with one shooter still to complete her series.
Earlier, Suchika Tariyal confirmed another medal for India after defeating Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa in the women’s traditional 60kg MMA quarter-final to enter the semi-finals.
Baigalmaa stepped up her attack in the second and final round in an attempt to turn the contest around, but Suchika held her ground defensively.
The Indian then produced a crucial reversal and took Baigalmaa to the ground, maintaining control until the end of the round to secure the victory.
Suchika’s semi-final qualification guarantees India another medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
