India Begin Asian Games Campaign with Shooting Silver

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Sep 9, 2026: India opened its Asian Games campaign with a silver medal in shooting and a historic guaranteed medal in Mixed Martial Arts, while the women’s hockey team made a spectacular start with a 19-0 demolition of Uzbekistan.

The shooting trio of Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod finished second behind China in the women’s 10m air rifle team event to secure India’s first silver medal of the Games.

In Mixed Martial Arts, Suchika advanced to the semi-finals after winning her quarter-final bout, assuring India of its first-ever Asian Games medal in the sport.

The Indian women’s hockey team produced one of the day’s most emphatic victories, thrashing Uzbekistan 19-0 in their opening Pool match. Deepika led the scoring with an outstanding nine-goal haul, including five goals from penalty corners. Ishika added a hat-trick as India dominated from start to finish.

India’s goalscorers: Deepika (9), Ishika (3), Neha (2), Lalthantluangi (2), Lalremsiami (1), Baljeet Kaur (1), Sakshi Rana (1) and Navneet Kaur (1).

India’s medal hopes in wushu suffered a setback after Suraj Singh finished 11th in the men’s Changquan final.

The teqball campaign also ended without a medal. Quimcy Dsouza lost the women’s singles bronze-medal playoff before teaming up with Mohamed Anas Imran Beg in the mixed doubles bronze-medal match, where the Indian pair went down in straight sets.

Attention now shifts to cricket, with Harmanpreet Kaur-led India set to face Bangladesh in the women’s semi-final, with a place in the gold-medal match at stake.