India Wins First Medal at 2026 Asian Games in Shooting

India won its first medal at the 2026 Asian Games on Sunday, claiming silver in the women's 10m air rifle team event. The trio of Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar, and Vidarsa Vinod combined for a total of 1898 points at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery near Toyota City. China took gold with a Games record score of 1904.2, while hosts Japan secured bronze with 1897.1 points. Sonam Maskar led the Indian team with an individual score of 634.1, the highest among the three, followed by Elavenil Valarivan with 633.5. The medal marked a convergence of three distinct paths to the podium. Elavenil, a two-time Olympian, entered shooting through a friend's daughter and rose from a district championship score of 128 to become a junior world champion. Sonam, 24, began shooting as a college hobby in 2018, but her family's financial struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic led her father to sell a property to fund her equipment. "I can't imagine reaching this far without that decision my father took," she said. "It was a very big sacrifice." Vidarsa Vinod's journey involved moving from Kerala to Delhi for training, where she faced language barriers and financial pressure.