India made a strong start to its campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 on Day 1, September 20, with medals, commanding team performances and several athletes progressing to the next rounds.
The shooting contingent opened India's medal account in impressive fashion, with Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Uttam Maskar and Vidarsa K Vinod winning silver in the women's 10m air rifle team event. India finished with 1898.0 points, behind gold medallists China, while Japan took bronze. Elavenil later added an individual silver, finishing behind Japan's Hinata Taihi in the final.
Mixed martial arts also produced a major moment as Suchika Tariyal defeated Mongolia's Altanchimeg Baigalmaa in the women's traditional 60kg quarter-final to enter the semi-finals
and assure India of a medal. In hockey, the Indian women's team began its campaign with a dominant 19-0 victory over Uzbekistan, with Deepika among the standout performers. The men's team also started strongly, defeating Indonesia 13-1.
India's badminton women's team swept Kazakhstan 3-0 to enter the quarter-finals, with PV Sindhu, Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma all registering wins. Table tennis also delivered perfect starts, with both the women's and men's teams beating Indonesia 3-0 in their respective Group F matches.
In cricket, India reached the women's T20 final after a comprehensive 114-run win over Bangladesh. Shafali Verma produced a historic unbeaten 100 off 49 balls, while India posted 195/4 before bowling Bangladesh out for 81. India will face Sri Lanka in the gold-medal match on September 22.
There were also mixed results elsewhere. Teqball players narrowly missed out on two bronze medals, while swimmer Rishabh Das advanced to the men's 100m backstroke final. Wushu athlete Mayanglambam Suraj Singh finished 11th in the men's Changquan final. With medals already secured and several team sports progressing, India enters Day 2 with another packed schedule across multiple disciplines.
India's Asian Games 2026 Day 2 Schedule - September 21
All timings are in Indian Standard Time (IST).
| Time (IST) | Sport | Event | Indian Athlete(s)/Team | Opponent / Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5:30 AM | Sepak Takraw | Men's Team Regu - Preliminary Group B | India | vs Japan |
| 5:30 AM | Soft Tennis | Mixed Doubles - Group B | Aadhya Tiwari / Jay Meena | vs Chao Viva / Khun Chanroseka (Cambodia) |
| 6:15 AM | Shooting | Men's 10m Air Rifle - Individual Qualification | Himanshu Dhillon, Parth Rakesh Mane, Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil | Qualification |
| 6:30 AM | Shooting | Women's Skeet - Individual Qualification, Day 1 | Parinaaz Dhaliwal, Raiza Dhillon, Maheshwari Chauhan | Qualification |
| 6:30 AM | Shooting | Men's Skeet - Individual Qualification, Day 1 | Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Anant Jeet Singh Naruka, Bhavtegh Singh Gill | Qualification |
| 6:30 AM | Table Tennis | Women's Team - Group F | India | vs Pakistan |
| 6:32 AM | Swimming | Men's 50m Backstroke - Heat 2 | Rishabh Das, Srihari Nataraj | Heat 2 |
| 6:46 AM | Swimming | Men's 50m Freestyle - Heat 2 | Akash Mani | Heat 2 |
| 6:50 AM | Swimming | Men's 50m Freestyle - Heat 4 | Heer Gitesh Shah | Heat 4 |
| 7:10 AM | Swimming | Men's 100m Breaststroke - Heat 2 | Danush Suresh | Heat 2 |
| 7:44 AM | Swimming | Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay - Heat 2 | India | With Qatar, Malaysia, China, Japan and Thailand |
| 8:30 AM | Boxing | Men's 70kg - Round of 32 | Sumit | vs Sinsiri Bunjong (Thailand) - weight-class session begins at 8:30 AM |
| 8:30 AM | Mixed Martial Arts | Women's Traditional -60kg | Suchika Tariyal | vs Teo Hui Hoon (Singapore) |
| 9:30 AM | Hockey | Women's Pool B | India | vs Indonesia |
| 9:45 AM | Kabaddi | Men's Team | India | vs Japan |
| 3:00 PM | Wushu | Women's 60kg | Roshibina Devi | vs Most Shika Khatun (Bangladesh) |
| 3:30 PM | Table Tennis | Men's Team - Group F | India | vs Pakistan |
| 3:50 PM | Wushu | Men's 56kg | Aryan | vs Shahzada Safi (Afghanistan) |
| 4:15 PM | Kabaddi | Women's Team | India | vs Bangladesh |
| 5:30 AM | Soft Tennis | Mixed Doubles - Group B | Aadhya Tiwari / Jay Meena | vs Bud Nyamdorj / Enkhkhuslen Ganbaatar (Mongolia) |
| 7:30 AM | Soft Tennis | Mixed Doubles - Group B | Aadhya Tiwari / Jay Meena | vs Kim Yeon-hwa / Park Jaekyu (Republic of Korea) |
| 11:30 AM | Badminton | Men's Team - 1st Round | India | vs Bangladesh |
Key Day 2 Matches for India
India's Day 2 programme begins early, with sepak takraw and shooting among the first events of the day. The women's table tennis team will face Pakistan at 6:30 AM, while the men's team meets Pakistan at 3:30 PM. The women's hockey team takes on Indonesia at 9:30 AM, followed by the men's kabaddi team's clash against Japan at 9:45 AM.
In the afternoon, the women's kabaddi team faces Bangladesh at 4:15 PM. Badminton's men's team will begin its campaign against Bangladesh at 11:30 AM, while boxing, wushu, MMA and swimming provide further opportunities for Indian athletes to progress in their respective competitions.
