Asian Games Day 2: Rifle Shooters Excel, MMA Fighter’s Medal Dream Ends by 700g

India’s Asian Games campaign gained further momentum on Day 2 as the country added four medals, taking its overall tally to six. Shooting once again led the charge, while Suchika Tariyal created history by becoming India’s first Asian Games medallist in MMA.

SHOOTING FUELS INDIA’S MEDAL HAUL

India picked up three medals in shooting on Monday.

Himanshu Dhillon won silver and Rudrankksh Patil secured bronze in the men’s 10m air rifle individual event. China’s Olympic champion Sheng Lihao took gold with 254.2 points, while Dhillon scored 252.4 and Patil finished with 230.9.

Earlier, Dhillon, Patil and Parth Mane had combined to win silver in the men’s 10m air rifle team event. China took gold with 1899.0 points, while India finished with 1890.1.

The three medals took India’s shooting tally to five after the country won two silver medals in the women’s 10m air rifle events on the opening day.

SUCHIKA MAKES HISTORY DESPITE 700G SETBACK

Suchika Tariyal delivered one of the day’s biggest milestones by securing India’s first-ever Asian Games MMA medal.

The 36-year-old reached the women’s traditional 60kg semifinal, where she faced Singapore’s Teo Hui Hoon. The bout remained level even after an additional one-minute period, and a review eventually resulted in the contest being declared a draw.

A tiebreak was then required. With the other criteria unable to separate the fighters, pre-competition weight became decisive. Teo was around 700 grams lighter than Tariyal and advanced to the final.

Tariyal was left in tears after the result but took home a historic bronze medal. She has previously competed in judo and kurash and is also a 2024 world champion in Ju-Jitsu.

WUSHU DUO CLOSE IN ON MEDALS

India remained in contention for more medals in wushu.

Roshibina Devi defeated Bangladesh’s Most Khatun to reach the women’s 60kg Sanda quarter-finals. The Indian is already a two-time Asian Games medallist and will now aim for a third successive podium finish.

Aryan also advanced to the men’s 56kg quarter-finals after beating Afghanistan’s Shahzada Safi 2-0.

Both Indians need one more victory to secure medals.

HOCKEY TEAMS CONTINUE GOAL FEST

India’s women’s hockey team maintained its dominant start with a 17-1 win over Indonesia.

After a 19-0 victory against Uzbekistan in their opening game, India have now scored 36 goals in two matches.

Deepika, Rutuja Dadaso Pisal and Navneet Kaur scored hat-tricks. Deepika has already netted 11 goals in the tournament, including eight in the opening match.

KABADDI TEAMS BEGIN WITH COMFORTABLE WINS

The defending champions in both kabaddi competitions opened their campaigns with victories.

India’s men defeated hosts Japan 49-24 in Group A, while the women beat Bangladesh 42-21.

Both teams controlled their respective matches from the beginning and made a positive start to their title defences.

TABLE TENNIS TEAMS ADVANCE

India’s women’s table tennis team defeated Pakistan 3-0 to reach the quarter-finals.

Sutirtha Mukherjee, Syndrela Das and Sreeja Akula all won their singles matches in straight games.

The men also bounced back from their defeat to Iran by beating Pakistan 3-0. Harmeet Desai, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Payas Jain completed straight-game victories.

BADMINTON MEN THROUGH TO QUARTER-FINALS

India swept Bangladesh 3-0 to enter the men’s badminton quarter-finals.

Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty and Kidambi Srikanth all registered straight-game wins.

India will next face hosts Japan on Tuesday in a tougher knockout-stage test.

SWIMMERS MISS OUT

India’s swimmers could not add to the medal tally.

Srihari Nataraj finished 10th in the men’s 50m backstroke final in 25.52 seconds, while Rishabh Das missed the final after placing 11th.

Akash Mani, Geetesh Shah and Danush Suresh also failed to progress in their respective events. India’s men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team finished ninth and missed the final.

INDIA AFTER DAY 2

India ended the day with four silver and two bronze medals, sitting 12th in the medal table. China led the standings with 23 gold medals.

Medallists:

Himanshu Dhillon — Silver, Men’s 10m Air Rifle
India — Silver, Men’s 10m Air Rifle Team
Rudrankksh Patil — Bronze, Men’s 10m Air Rifle
Suchika Tariyal — Bronze, Women’s Traditional MMA 60kg

Quarter-finalists:

Roshibina Devi — Wushu, Women’s Sanda 60kg
Aryan — Wushu, Men’s Sanda 56kg
India Men — Badminton Team
India Women — Table Tennis Team