Asian Games 2026: India win six medals after Day 2, September 21
India finished Day 2 of the Asian Games 2026 with six medals after shooters and a mixed martial arts competitor added to the tally on September 21 at the ongoing Games.
India’s haul rose to six following three shooting medals and a bronze in women’s traditional 60kg mixed martial arts; the country sat 12th on the medal table while China led the standings with 37 medals, including 22 gold. The shooting podiums included individual and team medals, and the mixed martial arts bronze was India’s first in that category at the Asian Games.
In men’s 10m air rifle individual competition Himanshu Dhillon claimed silver with an aggregate of 231.0 points and Rudrankksh Patil took bronze with 230.9, while Lihao Sheng of China won gold. Rudrankksh led at one stage in the medal round before Dhillon moved ahead after scoring 10.6 in the sixth series.
The pair combined with Parth Rakesh Mane to secure silver in the men’s 10m air rifle team event, giving India a shooting double on the day. Earlier on September 20, Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Uttam Maskar and Vidarsa K. Vinod won silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event, and Elavenil had already added an individual silver to complete a two-medal haul.
Suchika Tariyal earned a bronze in the women’s traditional 60kg MMA after losing in the semifinals to Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo; the Indian camp lodged an appeal against the result which was dismissed. The bronze marked India’s first medal in traditional MMA at the Asian Games.
Team and match results on Day 2 extended beyond shooting and MMA: India beat Japan 49-24 in men’s kabaddi, defeated Indonesia 17-1 in women’s hockey and won 3-0 over Pakistan in women’s table tennis, while boxer Sumit progressed with a 5-0 victory against Thailand’s Bunjong Sinsiri.
India’s women’s cricket team will play Sri Lanka in the women’s T20 final on Tuesday, September 22 at 10:30 am IST after beating Bangladesh by 114 runs in the semifinal; Shafali Varma’s unbeaten century helped India post 195/4 and then bowl Bangladesh out for 81, and Sri Lanka reached the final by beating Pakistan by eight wickets. The Indian contingent of 503 athletes has a target to improve on its 107-medal haul from the 2023 Asian Games.
Shooting action continues on Tuesday with the 10m air rifle mixed team event featuring Parth Rakesh Mane and Elavenil Valarivan, with qualification and medal rounds scheduled to begin at 6.15 a.m. IST; badminton teams including PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen are also in knockout rounds with team events due to resume the same day.
