Asian Games 2026 Day recap: Elavenil opens India’s medal haul with two silvers

India enjoyed a strong opening day at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday, with Elavenil Valarivan leading the medal charge with two silver medals, while India also assured podium finishes in MMA and women’s cricket.

Elavenil won silver in the women’s 10m air rifle individual event with a score of 252.4, finishing behind Japan’s Hinata Taichi. She later teamed up with Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod to claim another silver in the team event. India finished with 1898 points, behind China’s 1904.2, while Japan took bronze. Sonam also reached the individual final and finished sixth.

Suchika Tariyal secured India’s first-ever Asian Games MMA medal after defeating Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa 2-0 in the women’s Traditional 60kg quarterfinal. MMA is making its Asian Games debut in Aichi-Nagoya.

India’s women’s cricket team also booked its place in the gold-medal match after a 114-run semifinal win over Bangladesh. Shafali Verma smashed an unbeaten 100 off 49 balls as India posted 195/4 before bowling Bangladesh out for 81. India will face Sri Lanka for gold on Tuesday.

The hockey teams also made emphatic starts, with the women defeating Uzbekistan 19-0 and the men beating Indonesia 13-1. Deepika Sehrawat scored eight goals in the women’s win.

India’s women’s badminton team swept Kazakhstan 3-0 and will face hosts Japan in the quarterfinals. In table tennis, the women beat Indonesia and Singapore, while the men defeated Indonesia before losing to Iran.

Rishabh Das finished sixth in the men’s 100m backstroke, while Suraj Singh Mayanglambam placed 11th in the men’s Changquan final.