India Win Silver In Women's 10m Air Rifle Team Shooting At Asian Games 2026

India opened their shooting campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with a silver medal on Sunday, as the women's 10m air rifle team of Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod combined for 1898.0 points in Nagoya, Japan. It is India's first confirmed medal of the 20th Asian Games.

China topped the podium with a world-record score of 1904.2, while hosts Japan settled for bronze with 1897.1 points — meaning fewer than seven points separated all three medal-winning teams.

Individual scores

Sonam Maskar was India's standout shooter in qualification, posting 634.1 points, followed by Elavenil Valarivan on 633.5 and Vidarsa Vinod on 630.4. Both Sonam and Elavenil's scores were strong enough to also advance them into the eight-woman individual final, held later the same day, giving India a shot at a second medal in the event.

For India, the result echoes Hangzhou 2022, where the women's air rifle team also finished with silver. The current trio are all making their Asian Games debuts, with the federation having fielded an entirely new line-up for Aichi-Nagoya.

A promising start after a record haul

India's shooters arrive in Japan looking to build on their best-ever Asian Games showing, a 22-medal haul — seven gold, nine silver and six bronze — at Hangzhou in 2022. Sunday's silver, coming on the opening day of competition, gives the contingent early momentum across a Games programme that will see Indian shooters compete across rifle, pistol and shotgun events over the coming days.

Elsewhere on the Games' opening Sunday, India picked up its first assured medal across all disciplines when MMA fighter Suchika Tariyal advanced to the women's Traditional MMA 60kg semi-final, guaranteeing at least a bronze. India's schedule for the day also features marquee events, including a women's cricket semi-final against Bangladesh as the defending champions look to reach the gold-medal match, alongside medal opportunities in wushu and teqball.

Why it matters for India's medal push

With more than 30 medals seen as a realistic target for the contingent at Aichi-Nagoya, an early team medal in shooting — traditionally one of India's most productive disciplines at the Asian Games — sets a positive tone. Shooting alone contributed seven of India's 22 medals in Hangzhou, and a strong showing here would help India build toward a similar tally at this edition.

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