India Wins First Asian Games Medal
Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod secure silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event at Aichi-Nagoya.
India opened its medal account at the 2026 Asian Games with a silver medal in the women’s 10m air rifle team event on Sunday.
Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod combined for a total of 1898.0 points to finish second in the competition. China won the gold with 1904.2 points, while Japan took third place with 1897.1 points.
The result marked India’s first confirmed medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Sonam was India’s highest scorer with 634.1 points, followed by Elavenil with 633.5 and Vidarsa with 630.4.
Elavenil and Sonam also qualified for the women’s 10m air rifle individual final, giving India another medal opportunity in the event.
The silver comes as India’s shooting contingent begins its campaign at the Games. Indian shooters had won 22 medals at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, including seven gold, nine silver and six bronze medals.