Two days in, India's Asian Games campaign has a very clear shape and one very obvious gap.
The shape: six medals, arriving in a tight cluster from the 10m air rifle ranges at Aichi. The gap: none of them are gold. It is an early-Games pattern India have seen before — the rifle squad opens the account quickly, the colour of the metal catches up later once shotgun, archery, athletics and the team sports get going.
India's Asian Games 2026 Medal Tally
| Medal | Count |
|---|---|
| 🥇 Gold | 0 |
| 🥈 Silver | 4 |
| 🥉 Bronze | 2 |
| Total | 6 |
Count as of the Day 2 morning session, Monday, September 21, 2026. Afternoon events — men's table tennis, boxing, wushu and both kabaddi matches — were still to be completed at the time of writing.
Full List of India's Medals at Aichi-Nagoya 2026
| # | Medal | Athlete / Team | Event | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🥈 Silver | Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar, Vidarsa Vinod | Women's 10m air rifle team | Sep 20 |
| 2 | 🥈 Silver | Elavenil Valarivan | Women's 10m air rifle individual | Sep 20 |
| 3 | 🥈 Silver | Rudrankksh Patil, Parth Mane, Himanshu Dhillon | Men's 10m air rifle team | Sep 21 |
| 4 | 🥈 Silver | Himanshu Dhillon | Men's 10m air rifle individual | Sep 21 |
| 5 | 🥉 Bronze | Rudrankksh Patil | Men's 10m air rifle individual | Sep 21 |
| 6 | 🥉 Bronze | Suchika Tariyal | Women's traditional 60kg, mixed martial arts | Sep 21 |
Day 1: Elavenil Opens the Account, Twice
India's first medal of the Games came within hours of competition starting on Sunday, September 20. Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod combined to finish second in the women's 10m air rifle team event — a discipline where India's depth has been the story for the better part of a decade.
Elavenil then came back for the individual final and spent most of it looking like the winner. She led for long stretches before Japan's Hinata Taichi steadied in the closing shots to take gold in front of a home crowd. Silver, and a slightly frustrating one.
The other Day 1 story did not produce a medal on the day but guaranteed one: Suchika Tariyal beat Mongolia's Altanchimeg Baigalmaa in the women's traditional 60kg MMA quarter-final, which under the sport's format meant a podium finish was already locked in.
India closed the opening day 10th on the medal standings with two silver. China led with 20 medals including 11 gold; hosts Japan also had 20, six of them gold.
Day 2: A Double Podium in the Men's Air Rifle
Monday morning belonged entirely to the rifle range.
First came the team event. Rudrankksh Patil, Parth Mane and Himanshu Dhillon shot a combined 1890.1 for silver. That would have won most competitions; it was not close to enough here, because China posted 1899.0 — a new world record. South Korea took bronze.
Then the individual final, and India's best moment of the Games so far: two Indians on the same podium. Himanshu Dhillon took silver with 252.4, and Rudrankksh Patil the bronze with 230.9. It is the kind of result that says less about one athlete's day and more about a pipeline — three shooters entered, all three came away with at least one medal.
Suchika Tariyal's Bronze Is a First
The medal that will be remembered longest from Day 2 is arguably the smallest in the count.
Mixed martial arts made its Asian Games debut at Aichi-Nagoya, one of several additions to a programme that also brought in padel, surfing, virtual taekwondo and teqball. Suchika Tariyal lost her women's traditional 60kg semi-final to Singapore's Teo Hui Hoon, which settled her at bronze — and made her India's first ever Asian Games medallist in MMA.
India entered six athletes in the sport. On debut, a podium from the first one to finish is a reasonable return.
Day 2 Beyond the Podium
The medal table is only part of what happened on Monday.
Table tennis: India's women beat Pakistan 3-0 in their Group F tie to top the group with three wins from three and reach the quarter-finals. Sutirtha Mukherjee beat Aleena Khan 11-3, 11-3, 11-4; Syndrela Das beat Kalsoom Khan 11-6, 11-7, 11-5; and Sreeja Akula closed it out 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 against Fatima Khan. The men's team met Pakistan in the afternoon session.
Hockey: both Indian teams began with emphatic wins on Day 1 — the women 19-0 over Uzbekistan, the men 13-1 over Indonesia — with the women back out against Indonesia on Monday. These tournaments carry unusual weight: the men's and women's winners qualify directly for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Kabaddi: India began the defence of both titles on Day 2, the men against Japan and the women against Bangladesh.
Soft tennis: Aadhya Tiwari and Jay Meena went out in the mixed doubles round of 16.
India's women's cricket team, meanwhile, had already beaten Bangladesh in the semi-final and will play Sri Lanka for gold — a rematch of a fixture we covered in our report on the Women's Asia Cup 2026 final.
Where India Sit, and What's Coming
Six medals without a gold keeps India outside the top eight early on, because the standings rank by gold first. That position tends to move sharply once India's higher-volume disciplines arrive: athletics, with more than 70 track and field athletes entered, does not begin in earnest until the second week.
The benchmark is uncomfortable. India won 107 medals at Hangzhou 2023 — 28 gold, 38 silver, 41 bronze — and finished fourth. Matching that requires roughly seven medals a day across the full sixteen days, which is why the early shooting haul matters even without gold in it: at Hangzhou, shooting alone returned 22 medals.
Two absences are worth noting. Defending javelin champion Neeraj Chopra withdrew with an ankle injury. And the men's cricket tournament, which India enter at the quarter-final stage on September 28, runs straight into India's home ODI series against the West Indies — the reason the BCCI named two separate senior squads for the same fortnight, as we explained in our piece on the India squad for the West Indies 2026 series.
For the full contingent breakdown, venue list and broadcast details, see our earlier guide to India's Asian Games 2026 schedule and squad.
Asian Games 2026: The Essentials
| Edition | 20th Asian Games (Aichi-Nagoya 2026) |
| Host | Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya, Japan |
| Dates | September 19 – October 4, 2026 |
| Programme | 469 events across 43 sports and disciplines |
| India's contingent | Around 500 athletes across 36 sports |
| Flagbearers | Manu Bhaker and Pawan Sehrawat |
| India at Hangzhou 2023 | 107 medals (28G, 38S, 41B), 4th place |
| Broadcast (India) | Sony Sports Network · streaming on SonyLIV |
A note on the contingent figure: the Indian Olympic Association's pre-Games entry list put India at 496 athletes, while several outlets have since reported 503. Both numbers are in circulation; the discrepancy is normal at this stage, as late withdrawals and replacements are still being processed.
Results, scores and medal counts compiled from ANI, The Tribune, myKhel, Business Standard, Outlook India and Olympics.com reporting dated September 20–21, 2026, and from Olympic Council of Asia information. Medal tallies at a live multi-sport Games change by the hour — check the official Aichi-Nagoya 2026 results service for the current count. Last verified: September 21, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many medals has India won at the Asian Games 2026 so far?
Six, as of the Day 2 morning session on Monday, September 21 — four silver and two bronze, with no gold yet. Two came on Day 1 and four on the morning of Day 2.
Who won India's first medal at the Asian Games 2026?
Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod, in the women's 10m air rifle team event on September 20. Elavenil added an individual silver in the same event later that day.
What happened in the men's 10m air rifle?
Rudrankksh Patil, Parth Mane and Himanshu Dhillon shot 1890.1 for team silver behind China, who set a world record of 1899.0; South Korea took bronze. In the individual final, Himanshu Dhillon won silver with 252.4 and Rudrankksh Patil bronze with 230.9.
Why is Suchika Tariyal's bronze historic?
Mixed martial arts made its Asian Games debut at Aichi-Nagoya 2026, so her bronze in the women's traditional 60kg category is India's first ever Asian Games medal in the sport.
How many medals did India win at the last Asian Games?
A record 107 at Hangzhou 2023 — 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze — for fourth place behind China, Japan and South Korea.
When do the Asian Games 2026 end?
October 4, 2026. The Games opened on September 19 and feature 469 events across 43 sports and disciplines.
Which titles is India defending at these Games?
Five team golds from Hangzhou: men's cricket, women's cricket, men's kabaddi, women's kabaddi and men's hockey.
Where can I watch the Asian Games 2026 in India?
On the Sony Sports Network on television, with live streaming on SonyLIV.