Asian Games 2026 Day 1 Highlights: India medal tally – 2 Silver; Medals confirmed in cricket, MMA | Asian Games 2026

On Day 1 of the Asian Games 2026, India finished with two silver medals in shooting, booked a place in the women’s cricket gold-medal match, registered commanding victories in hockey and badminton, and had Suchika Tariyal assure another medal in mixed martial arts (MMA). 

India opened their medal account through the women’s 10m air rifle team, where Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa K Vinod combined for 1898.0 points to take silver. China won gold with 1904.2, while hosts Japan finished third on 1897.1.

 Elavenil then doubled her medal haul by winning silver in the women’s 10m air rifle individual final. She finished with 252.4 points, just 0.6 behind Japan’s Hinata Taichi, who took gold with an Asian Games record of 253.0.

 Tariyal added to India’s medal prospects in MMA, defeating Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa in the women’s traditional 60kg quarter-final to reach the semi-finals and assure herself of a medal.

 India’s women’s cricket team also marched into the final with a 114-run victory over Bangladesh in the second semi-final. India will face Sri Lanka in the gold-medal match, while Pakistan and Bangladesh will meet in the bronze-medal contest.

 Smriti Mandhana created history during India’s innings by moving past Suzie Bates to become the leading run-scorer in women’s T20 internationals, while Shafali Verma struck a rapid half-century.

 Hockey teams begin with emphatic wins

 India’s women produced one of the biggest wins of the opening day, crushing Uzbekistan 19-0 in Pool B.

 The men followed with a 13-1 victory over Indonesia in Pool A. Dilpreet Singh scored four goals, while Shilanand Lakra and Sukhjeet Singh struck twice each. Abhishek, Rajinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Jugraj Singh were also on target.

 India sweep Kazakhstan in badminton

 India’s women’s badminton team made a flawless start, defeating Kazakhstan 3-0 without dropping a game.

PV Sindhu beat Kamila Smagulova 21-7, 21-9, Unnati Hooda defeated Alissa Kuleshova 21-7, 21-10, and Tanvi Sharma completed the sweep with a 21-5, 21-10 victory over Diana Namenova.

 Mixed results for India in table tennis

 Both Indian teams started their campaigns with 3-0 victories over Indonesia.

 The women then edged Singapore 3-2 in a dramatic Group F tie. Yashaswini Ghorpade won both her matches, including the deciding fifth contest against Loy Ming, while Sreeja Akula produced a crucial victory over Jian Zeng.

 The men, however, suffered a 0-3 defeat against Iran. Noshad Alamiyan beat Manush Shah in straight games, Benyamin Faraji defeated Manav Thakkar 3-0, while Nima Alamian overcame Harmeet Desai in five games.

 Rishabh Das finishes sixth in backstroke final

 Rishabh Das emerged as India’s leading performer in the pool. He finished fifth in the men’s 100m backstroke heats to reach the final before eventually taking sixth place.

 Utkarsh Patil finished 12th in the heats and missed out on the final.

 In the men’s 100m freestyle heats, Benedicton Beniston finished 12th, while Akash Mani placed 23rd. Neither progressed.

 Teqball bronze hopes end in disappointment

 India came close to the podium twice in teqball but finished without a medal.

Quimcy Dsouza lost the women’s singles bronze-medal match to Japan’s Yuina Sakamoto. She then partnered Mohamed Anas Beg in the mixed doubles bronze-medal contest, where the Indian pair lost to Vietnam’s Hoang Minh Tan Nguyen and Gia Ngih Trinh.

 Wushu campaign suffers setbacks

 Mayanglambam Suraj Singh finished 11th in the men’s changquan final.