Asian Games 2026 Day 2: India win four medals, shooting brings three as Suchika Tariyal makes MMA history amid heartbreak

Himanshu Dhillon, Rudrankksh Patil and Parth Mane won team silver in men’s 10m air rifle; Suchika Tariyal claims bronze in MMA. NEW DELHI: Gold continued to elude India but the medals kept coming on the second day of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games as the country added four more on Monday.Three came from the range while Suchika Tariyal created history by becoming India’s first Asian Games medalist in mixed martial arts. However, her bronze came with heartbreak after an even semi-final ended in a draw and the heavier weight denied her a place in the final.India now has six medals – four silver and two bronze – after two days of competition, but is still waiting for its first gold.

Shooting brings three more medals

Shooting once again proved to be India’s biggest source of medals.Himanshu Dhillon won silver and Rudrankksh Patil won bronze in the men’s 10m air rifle individual event, both part of the Indian team that secured silver in the team event alongside 18-year-old Partha Mane.The trio combined for 1898.4 points, but China raised the bar again. Sheng Lihao, Changhong Zhang and Sihan Ma accumulated 1899.0 to win gold and set a new world record, bettering the previous mark of 1898.4 from last year in Cairo.For India, the individual medals added another layer to an impressive day for the young shooters. Dhillon, 21, and Mane, 18, are still at the senior level, while Rudrankksh has already established himself as a major international contender.The three medals took the tally of Indian shooters to five – four silver and one bronze – after the silver medals on the opening day.READ ALSO: Why Suchika Tariyal lost despite draw: How 700g denied Indian MMA fighter historic final and left her in tears

Suchika makes history, but heartbreak follows

Suchika Tariyal became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games medal in MMA, but a historic bronze was not enough to hide her disappointment.The 36-year-old was involved in a thrilling semi-final against Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo in the traditional women’s 60kg category. The bout ended in a draw, but MMA rules allow the lighter fighter to advance when the bout is tied.At the morning weigh-in, Suchika was about 700 grams heavier than her opponent, and she missed out on progressing to the finals.She broke down in tears after the match, knowing how close she was to fighting for the gold.Still, her bronze remains a landmark. A resident of Kiloi village in Haryana’s Rohtak district, Suchika is the 2024 World Jiu-Jitsu Champion and has also represented India in Judo at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and Kurash at the 2022 Asian Games.“This is more than my life. I will never forget coming to Japan and winning a medal for my country. Now I can die happily,” Suchika told PTI after recovering.Another Indian MMA participant, Varun Sanyal, was earlier forced to withdraw from the competition after he passed out during a sauna while trying to cut weight.

Indian women’s hockey team beat Indonesia 17-1 (Image: ANI)

Strong performances across team sports

India had plenty to celebrate outside of the medal tally.The women’s hockey team continued their dominant 17-1 start against Indonesia in Pool B. The defending kabaddi champions also got off to a strong start, with the women beating Bangladesh 42-21 and the men beating Japan 49-24.India’s badminton campaign got off to a similarly convincing start. The men swept Bangladesh 3-0 in the opening round, with Lakshya Sen, K Srikanth and Ayush Shetty winning their singles matches, making the remaining doubles matches unnecessary.The table tennis teams also achieved an identical 3-0 win over Pakistan. The women’s team topped Group F with a third straight win, while the men bounced back from defeat to Iran by completing a clean sweep of Pakistan.In boxing, Sumit Kundu made an emphatic start in the men’s 70kg category, defeating Thailand’s Bunjong Sinsiri 5-0.Wushu also produced positive results, with Roshibina Devi and Aryan advancing to their respective quarter-finals.

Swimming continues to disappoint

Swimming again proved to be a difficult campaign for India.Two-time Olympian Srihari Nataraj finished 10th in the men’s 50m breaststroke final. He clocked 25.52 seconds, which was slower than his 25.37 effort in heats earlier in the day.Several other Indian swimmers failed to advance from their heats, including Akash Mani and Heer Gitesh Shah in the men’s 50m freestyle and Dhanush Suresh in the 100m breaststroke.There was also disappointment in soft tennis. Aadhya Tiwari and Jay Meena’s mixed doubles campaign ended in the round of 16 after a hard-fought defeat to Christy Sanosa and Sherwin Ray Nuguit of the Philippines.

Four medals, but gold still in sight

India’s second day brought a mix of history, heartbreak and rousing performances across the disciplines.The shooting range secured the medals again, Suchik’s bronze ensured India entered the MMA record books. Other positives were offered by strong starts in hockey, kabaddi, badminton, table tennis, boxing and wushu.But the elusive gold remains the biggest point of contention.After two days, India has six medals – four silver and two bronze. The challenge now is to turn strong starts and near misses into gold as the Asian Games move deeper into competition.