Elavenil Valarivan's Twin Silvers Open India's Account as the 20th Asian Games Begin in Nagoya

India's Asian Games campaign needed less than a day to produce its first medals. On Sunday morning, 20 September, rifle shooter Elavenil Valarivan won silver twice over at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery — first alongside Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod in the women's 10m air rifle team event, and then in an individual final that slipped away from her only on the very last shot. The medals opened India's account at the 20th Asian Games barely a day after the Games were declared open in Nagoya.

A final decided by a tenth of a point

In the team event, the Indian trio totalled 1,898.0 points in qualification to finish behind China, whose team took gold with a world-record 1,904.2, according to ANI and PTI reports. Hosts Japan claimed bronze with 1,897.1. Sonam Maskar was India's top scorer with 634.1, followed by Elavenil on 633.5 and Vidarsa Vinod on 630.4, and the scores sent both Elavenil and Sonam into the eight-woman individual final.

The individual final turned into a duel between Elavenil and Japan's Hinata Taichi that went to the 24th and last shot. Elavenil, who opened with a series of 53.1 and led the field at the halfway mark, fired a 10.1 with her final attempt; Hinata answered with a 10.2 to snatch the gold, per PTI's account of the final. Elavenil finished on 231.9 for silver, while Olympic champion Ban Hyojin of South Korea took bronze. Sonam Maskar, competing in the same final, finished sixth.

The result extends Indian shooting's recent record at the continental Games: at Hangzhou in 2022, Indian shooters won 22 medals, their best-ever haul at an Asian Games, as NE Now noted in its report on Sunday's team silver.

Bhaker and Sehrawat lead the march in Nagoya

The medals came a day after the Games formally opened on Saturday evening at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya, where Japan's Emperor Naruhito declared the 20th Asian Games open. The ceremony, featuring music, dance and fireworks, launched a Games that will run until 4 October and award 469 gold medals across 43 sports — although some competitions, including cricket, began before the ceremony itself.

Double Olympic bronze medallist Manu Bhaker and kabaddi star Pawan Sehrawat carried the tricolour at the head of the Indian contingent. Sehrawat was a late choice: two-time Asian Games shot put champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor had originally been named flag-bearer alongside Bhaker but withdrew because of what Olympics.com described as logistical issues that kept him from reaching the ceremony in time.

India has sent one of its largest-ever away contingents to Japan. The Indian Olympic Association named a 503-athlete squad for Aichi-Nagoya, according to Business Standard, spread across 36 sports, with athletics contributing the biggest group of more than 70 athletes and around 30 shooters in the party. Sahdev Yadav is serving as chef de mission, with table tennis great Sharath Kamal as his deputy.

The bar set in Hangzhou

The benchmark is formidable. At the last Asian Games in Hangzhou, India recorded its best-ever performance with 107 medals — 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze — to finish fourth on the medal table. India arrives in Japan as the defending champion in both the men's and women's T20 cricket competitions and in both kabaddi events, titles it won in Hangzhou.

Beyond the shooting range, several of India's biggest names are expected to anchor the medal push over the next fortnight, among them badminton star PV Sindhu, boxer Lovlina Borgohain, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and Olympic wrestling medallist Aman Sehrawat. Manu Bhaker herself is entered in the women's 10m air pistol, 25m pistol and the 10m air pistol mixed team events. The athletics programme, worth 50 medal events, runs from 23 to 29 September.

A busy first Sunday

Sunday brought Indian results well beyond the shooting range. The women's hockey team opened its campaign with a 19-0 demolition of Uzbekistan, and the women's table tennis team beat Indonesia 3-0 in its Group F tie, according to PTI. In mixed martial arts, which is on the Asian Games programme in Aichi-Nagoya, Suchika Tariyal assured India of a medal in the women's 60kg division by beating Mongolia's Altanchimeg Baigalmaa in her quarter-final.

For Elavenil, a former world number one in the 10m air rifle, the twin silvers carry a familiar sting — a continental gold decided by a single tenth of a point — but they also hand India exactly the start it wanted. With the full shooting programme, cricket knockouts and the athletics week still to come, the contingent will hope Sunday's silvers are the first entries in a long ledger. Whether India can better Hangzhou's 107-medal high-water mark will become clearer as the Games' first full week unfolds.

Sources: ThePrint (PTI), The News Mill, NE Now, Olympics.com, Business Standard, Wikipedia — 2026 Asian Games.