Women demonstrated outstanding results on the first days of the 20th Asian Games. Indian athletes started their campaign very brightly, and the first medal was won at the shooting range.
The women's team in air rifle shooting at 10 meters received a silver medal with a score of 1898.0. This trio, consisting of Ilavelnil Valarivan, Sonam Uttam Maskar, and Vidarsa K. Vinod, competed against China, which won gold, and Japan, which took bronze.
Next, in the individual event, shooting star Ilavelnil Valarivan showed an brilliant result. She lost the gold medal by only 0.6 points in a tense confrontation, securing the second silver medal with a score of 252.4. Hinata Taichi from Japan won gold (253.0). Sonam Maskar placed sixth in the individual final.
President Draupadi Muru congratulated the shooters for enhancing the country's prestige.
On the cricket field, the Indian women's team completely dominated Bangladesh in the semi-finals, securing a place in the final. With this victory, India guaranteed itself at least a silver medal. Shefali Verma scored 100 runs not out, using 9 sixes and 3 fours, marking the first century for an Indian woman cricketer in Asian Games history.
India scored an impressive 195/4 in 20 overs, while the Bangladesh team managed only 81 runs in 15.4 overs. Nandini Sharma and Dipti Sharma each took three wickets, and Shri Charani took two. Now, on September 22, India will face Sri Lanka in the gold medal match.
The women's team achieved a crushing victory over Uzbekistan with a score of 19:0, setting a historical record. Meanwhile, the men's team also won its first match, defeating Indonesia with a score of 13:1. Dilpreet Singh scored an impressive 4 goals, and Sukhjit Singh scored 2 goals.
The women's badminton team defeated Kazakhstan in the first round with a score of 3:0 in just 90 minutes. Additionally, P.V. Sindhu beat Camila with scores of 21-7, 21-9 in just 24 minutes, and Unnati Hooda defeated Alice with scores of 21-7, 21-19.
Suchika Tarial advanced to the semi-finals, defeating Bagelmu from Mongolia with a score of 2:0 in the traditional 60 kg weight class, thus securing another medal for India. The male MMA fighter Varun Sanyal was disqualified due to severe dehydration after a 10-hour delay in placement in Nagoya.
As for wushu, Suraj Singh Mainglambam finished 11th in the Chanchuan final. In the Round of 16 in the 75 kg class, Vikrant Balian lost to Sohel Mosavi from Iran with a score of 0-2.