Elavenil, Sonam, Vidarsa Fire India To Shooting Silver At Asian Games 2026

India opened its shooting campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with a silver medal in the women’s 10m air rifle team event on Sunday, with Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod combining for a strong second-place finish.

The Indian trio accumulated 1898.0 points to secure the silver, finishing behind China, which produced a world-record score of 1904.2. Hosts Japan took the bronze with 1897.1 points.

The result also gave India its first confirmed medal of the 2026 Asian Games, providing an early boost to the country’s campaign in Nagoya. India had won 22 medals in shooting at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, including seven gold, nine silver and six bronze.

Sonam led the Indian scoring with 634.1 points, while Elavenil contributed 633.5 and Vidarsa 630.4. Elavenil and Sonam also advanced to the individual 10m air rifle final after finishing among the eight qualifiers, giving India another medal opportunity later on Sunday.

For Elavenil, the team silver adds another Asian Games podium moment to her career, while Sonam continued her strong showing by emerging as India’s highest scorer in the qualification round. Vidarsa, meanwhile, made a valuable contribution in helping India finish ahead of Japan.

The silver was also India’s second successive medal in the women’s 10m air rifle team event at the Asian Games, after the country claimed silver in the same event at Hangzhou.

China’s world-record performance ensured that India had to settle for silver despite putting together a high-scoring effort. The narrow margin between India and Japan underlined how closely contested the team competition was.

With the shooting contingent expected to be one of India’s major medal hopes in Aichi-Nagoya, the opening-day silver sets the tone for what could be a busy campaign across the shooting disciplines. India has a 30-member shooting squad competing across 28 events at the Games.