Asian Games Day 2: Rifle Shooters Shine, 700g Loss Ends MMA Medal Hopes

India added four more medals on the second full day of competition at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, taking its overall tally to six, although the wait for a gold medal continued.

Three of India’s four medals came from shooting on Monday, September 21. Former wrestler Himanshu Dhillon claimed silver, while Rudrankksh Patil won bronze in the men’s 10m air rifle individual event. The duo had earlier combined with Parth Mane to secure silver in the team competition.

The day also produced a landmark moment in MMA. Suchika Tariyal became India’s first Asian Games medallist in mixed martial arts, but her bronze came after a heartbreaking semifinal. Her bout against Singapore’s Teo Hui Hoon ended in a draw, with the final spot eventually decided by a weight-based tiebreak. Teo was just 700 grams lighter.

India ended Day 2 with four silver and two bronze medals and stood 12th in the medal standings. China remained at the top with 23 gold medals.

SHOOTING PRODUCES THREE MORE MEDALS

Shooting once again emerged as India’s biggest source of medals.

The men’s 10m air rifle team of Himanshu Dhillon, Rudrankksh Patil and Parth Mane won silver with a combined score of 1890.1. China took gold with 1899.0, while South Korea finished third with 1884.2.

The individual competition brought two more medals for India.

China’s Olympic champion and defending Asian Games champion Sheng Lihao took gold with 254.2 points. Dhillon finished second with 252.4, while Patil secured bronze with 230.9.

Dhillon’s silver was a significant achievement for the 20-year-old, who has made the transition from the junior circuit to the senior level in impressive fashion.

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

Despite the strong shooting performance, India was still searching for its first gold.

SUCHIKA TARIYAL’S 700-GRAM HEARTBREAK

Suchika Tariyal’s historic MMA campaign ended in a dramatic semifinal against Singapore’s Teo Hui Hoon.

With MMA making its Asian Games debut in Aichi-Nagoya, Tariyal had already assured India of its first medal in the sport by reaching the last four in the women’s traditional 60kg category.

Her semifinal went through regulation time and an additional one-minute period without producing a winner. An initial decision went against Tariyal, but India’s appeal resulted in the contest being declared a draw after a review by three additional judges.

The draw still required a tiebreak.

Under the applicable Asian MMA rules, a series of criteria can be used to separate fighters after a drawn bout. When the earlier criteria failed to produce a winner, pre-competition weight became decisive.

Teo was around 700 grams lighter at the morning weigh-in and was awarded the place in the final.

Tariyal was visibly emotional after the decision and later said she believed she had done enough to win.

The bronze medal nevertheless marked a historic achievement. The 36-year-old became India’s first Asian Games MMA medallist. She has also represented India in judo and kurash and is a 2024 world champion in Ju-Jitsu.

WUSHU DUO MOVE CLOSER TO MEDALS

India could add more medals through wushu, with Roshibina Devi and Aryan reaching the quarter-finals.

Roshibina defeated Bangladesh’s Most Khatun in the women’s 60kg Sanda category. The Indian already has two Asian Games medals — silver at Hangzhou in 2022 and bronze at Jakarta in 2018 — and is now chasing a third consecutive podium finish.

Aryan advanced to the men’s 56kg quarter-finals after defeating Afghanistan’s Shahzada Safi 2-0. The youngster has two junior world titles and an Asian junior title to his name.

Both fighters will return on Tuesday with semifinal berths and guaranteed medals at stake.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM CONTINUES GOAL RUSH

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

The victory followed a 19-0 opening-game demolition of Uzbekistan and took India’s goal tally to 36 in two matches.

Deepika, Rutuja Dadaso Pisal and Navneet Kaur scored hat-tricks. Deepika’s three goals took her tournament tally to 11 after just two games, following her eight-goal haul in the opening match.

India scored seven goals from penalty corners and added 10 from open play. The team now has two wins from two in Pool B.

KABADDI TEAMS OPEN TITLE DEFENCES WITH WINS

India’s men’s and women’s kabaddi teams began their respective title defences with convincing victories.

The men’s team defeated hosts Japan 49-24 in Group A, with Ashu Malik, Arjun Deshwal, Devank Dalal and Ayan Lohchab among those making an impact.

The women’s team also started with a comfortable win, beating Bangladesh 42-21. India led 21-10 at half-time before maintaining control in the second half.

Both teams entered the tournament as defending champions.

TABLE TENNIS TEAMS REACH KNOCKOUTS

India’s table tennis teams also made progress.

The women’s team defeated Pakistan 3-0 to book a place in the quarter-finals. Sutirtha Mukherjee, 17-year-old Syndrela Das and Sreeja Akula all won their singles matches without dropping a game.

The men’s team bounced back from its loss to Iran by beating Pakistan 3-0. Harmeet Desai, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Payas Jain each won in straight games.

India finished second behind Iran in Group F and advanced to the knockout stage.

BADMINTON MEN SET UP JAPAN CLASH

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

Lakshya Sen began with a 21-4, 21-12 victory over Ayman Ibn Jaman. Ayush Shetty then beat Gourab Singha 21-4, 21-13 before Kidambi Srikanth completed the clean sweep against Al Amin Jumar.

India will face hosts Japan in Tuesday’s quarter-final.

SWIMMERS MISS OUT

Swimming once again failed to produce a breakthrough for India.

Srihari Nataraj reached the men’s 50m backstroke final but finished 10th in 25.52 seconds, slower than his 25.37-second effort in the heats. China’s Xu Jiayu won gold in a Games-record 24.04 seconds.

Rishabh Das narrowly missed the final after finishing 11th in 25.41 seconds. Akash Mani and Geetesh Shah exited in the 50m freestyle heats, while Danush Suresh failed to reach the 100m backstroke final.

India’s men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team of Sajan Prakash, Dhakshan Shashikumar, Vedaant Madhavan and Aneesh Sunil also missed the final after finishing ninth among 13 teams.

INDIA AT THE ASIAN GAMES: DAY 2

Medals

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

Into the next round

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