Elavenil Valarivan turned the opening day of the Asian Games 2026 into a two-medal outing, adding an individual silver in the women’s 10m air rifle to the team silver she had won only hours earlier in Aichi-Nagoya on Sunday.

The Indian finished the individual final with 252.4 points, just 0.6 behind Japan’s Hinata Taichi, who claimed gold with an Asian Games record of 253.0. South Korea’s Hyojin Ban completed the podium with 230.4.

It was Elavenil’s second trip to the podium on a memorable morning. Earlier, she had combined with Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod to take silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event.

The two results mean India have won two shooting medals so far at Aichi-Nagoya, both silver, while Elavenil herself has already emerged as one of the country’s standout performers on Day 1.

Elavenil overturns qualification position in final

Elavenil had entered the eight-shooter final after finishing seventh in qualification with 633.5, while Sonam secured third place in qualification with 634.1.

But the final brought out a different Elavenil.

She immediately moved to the top after the opening five-shot series, scoring 53.1, and strengthened her position with another strong sequence to lead the field with 106.0 after 10 shots.

Gold decided by final two shots

Little separated Elavenil and Taichi heading into the closing stages.

The Indian was only 0.3 points behind when the final two shots began. Elavenil registered 10.4 on the penultimate attempt, but Taichi responded with 10.6, stretching her advantage to half a point.

That left Elavenil needing one final surge.

She finished with a 10.1, keeping the pressure on the Japanese shooter. Taichi, however, held her nerve and delivered a 10.2 to secure gold by just 0.6 points.

For Elavenil, silver capped a final in which she had transformed a seventh-place qualification into a sustained challenge for the title.

Team silver starts India’s shooting campaign

Earlier in the morning, Elavenil, Sonam and Vidarsa combined for 1898.0 points to finish second in the women’s 10m air rifle team competition.

China won gold with 1904.2, while hosts Japan were pushed into bronze with 1897.1, only 0.9 points behind India.

The result opened India’s medal account at the Games and was quickly followed by Elavenil’s individual silver.

India had arrived in Aichi-Nagoya with considerable expectations from shooting after winning a record 22 medals — seven gold, nine silver and six bronze — at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Elavenil has another medal opportunity ahead

Elavenil’s Asian Games campaign is not over yet.

She is also scheduled to compete with Parth Mane in the 10m air rifle mixed-team event on September 22, giving the Indian shooter another opportunity to add to her two medals from the opening day.

India also have several prominent shooters still to enter competition, including Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh, Suruchi Singh, Rudrankksh Patil, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka across pistol, rifle and shotgun events.

Suchika Tariyal assures India of MMA medal

Away from the shooting range, India received another medal boost through Suchika Tariyal, who reached the semi-finals of the women’s traditional 60kg mixed martial arts event.

Tariyal defeated Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa in the quarter-final to assure herself of a medal, although its colour will depend on her progress through the remaining rounds.

With two shooting silvers already secured and an MMA medal guaranteed, India’s Day 1 campaign has begun to gather momentum.

The BCCI selectors recently confirmed India’s squad for the three-match ODI series against the West Indies. The Men in Blue are set to play three one-dayers against the Caribbean team from September 27 to October 3. The matches will be played in Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati and Mullanpur.

India’s ODI squad for the series against the West Indies will be led by Shubman Gill. With Shreyas Iyer leading the Asian Games side, KL Rahul has been picked as vice-captain. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are part of the one-day team, while Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav have been handed comebacks. Also, Auqib Nabi and Naman Dhir have received maiden ODI call-ups.

Four players (excluding Nabi and Dhir) in India‘s squad for the three-match series against the West Indies are yet to play a one-day international against the Caribbean side. Take a look.

#1 Yashasvi Jaiswal

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal makes a comeback to the ODI squad for the three-match series against the West Indies. The left-handed batter has only featured in six one-day matches so far in which he has scored 285 runs at an average of 71.25 and a strike rate of 97.60, with two centuries.

Of his six ODIs, three have come against South Africa, two against Afghanistan and one against England. He has registered one century each against the Proteas and against Afghanistan. Jaiswal has played Tests and T20Is against the West Indies. It remains to be seen whether he plays his first ODI against them soon.

#2 Nitish Kumar Reddy

All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is also yet to play an ODI match against the West Indies. He has featured in six one-dayers so far and has scored 100 runs at an average of 33.33 and a strike rate of 101.01, with one half-century. With the ball, he has picked up two wickets at an average of 89.50 and an economy rate of 7.11.

Reddy has played two ODIs against New Zealand, two against Australia and two against Afghanistan. While he is yet to play a one-dayer against the West Indies, the Andhra Pradesh cricketer has played two Test matches against them.

#3 Dhruv Jurel

With Ishan Kishan part of the Asian Games 2026 squad, Team India has picked Dhruv Jurel as the backup wicketkeeper ahead of Rishabh Pant for the ODIs against the West Indies. Jurel had a memorable Test tour of Sri Lanka during which he scored a century and a half-century.

Jurel is yet to play a one-day match. He has so far featured in 12 Test matches. In 19 innings, the right-handed batter has scored 651 runs at an average of 40.68, with two hundreds and two half-centuries. In two Tests against the West Indies, Jurel has scored 175 runs at an average of 87.50, with a best of 125. The keeper-batter has also featured in four T20Is in which he has scored 12 runs.

#4 Gurnoor Brar

Young pacer Gurnoor Brar is also yet to play a one-day match against the West Indies. The 26-year-old fast bowler from Punjab has featured in six ODI matches so far in which he has claimed 11 wickets at an average of 32.81 and an economy rate of 6.96.

Of his six one-day matches in a short career so far, Brar has played three matches against Afghanistan in which he has picked up seven wickets at an average of 19.42 and an economy 5.95. He registered impressive figures of 3-27 from 4.5 overs on debut in Dharamsala in June this year.

Brar also featured in three one-dayers against England during the away series in July. He picked up four wickets at an average of 56.25 and an economy rate of 7.75. The right-arm pacer claimed 2-61 from nine overs in Birmingham and 2-67 from 10 overs in Cardiff. In the third match of the series at Lord’s, he went for 97 runs in 10 overs, without picking up a wicket.