New Delhi/Nagoya, Sept. 20 -- India opened its medal campaign at the Asian Games with two shooting silvers on Sunday, led by a standout double-medal performance from Elavenil Valarivan. The day also brought India an assured medal in the debuting Mixed Martial Arts competition, a place in the women's cricket final and big opening wins for both hockey teams. India also made encouraging starts in badminton and table tennis, although there were setbacks in teqball, swimming, wushu and MMA.

Valarivan, 27, was the central figure of India's medal haul. After going without a medal at her first two Asian Games, the 2025 World Championship bronze-medallist finished second in the women's 10m air rifle individual event with 252.4 points. Japan's Hinata Taichi won gold with an Asian Games record 253.0, leaving Valarivan just 0.6 points behind.

Earlier, Valarivan had teamed up with Sonam Uttam Maskar and Games debutant Vidarsa K Vinod to win silver in the women's 10m air rifle team event. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Valarivan on X, describing her two-medal day as special and also praising the team's performance.

India secured another medal through 36-year-old Suchika Tariyal, who reached the women's traditional 60kg MMA semifinals. Tariyal defeated Mongolia's Altanchimeg Baigalmaa 2-0 in the quarterfinals to guarantee at least bronze. She took up MMA in 2024 after earlier training in judo and has since won national titles and bronze medals at the third and fourth Asian Mixed Martial Arts Championships this year.

In cricket, India defeated Bangladesh by 114 runs in Nisshin to reach the women's final. Shafali Verma struck her maiden T20 International century, reaching the landmark in 49 balls, as India posted 195/4. Bangladesh could not mount a successful chase. India will meet Sri Lanka in Tuesday's final, repeating the previous edition's title clash.

The hockey teams also produced emphatic opening victories. The women's side defeated Uzbekistan 19-0, with 22-year-old Deepika Sehrawat scoring a record eight goals. The men beat Indonesia 13-1, with Dilpreet Singh scoring four.

India's table tennis teams opened with 3-0 victories over Indonesia. The women then beat Singapore 3-2, while the men lost 0-3 to Iran. In badminton, PV Sindhu, Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma helped India beat Kazakhstan 3-0 without dropping a game. Japan awaits in the quarterfinals.

Quimcy D'Souza narrowly missed two teqball bronze medals. She lost 0-2 to Japan's Yuina Sakamoto in women's singles before also losing the mixed doubles bronze match with Mohamed Anas Beg to Vietnam.

MMA fighter Varun Sanyal was ruled medically unfit after passing out during a sauna session. Swimmer Rishabh Das finished sixth in the 100m backstroke final in 54.77 seconds, while wushu's Suraj Singh Mayanglambam placed 11th in the men's changquan final with 9.683 points.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.