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.