Two medals in a day: PM Modi, President Murmu celebrate Elavenil Valarivan’s double silver at Asian Games

Elavenil Valarivan celebrates after winning the silver medal in the women’s 10m air rifle at the ongoing 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan. (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan after she won the silver medal in the women’s 10m individual air rifle event at the 2026 Asian Games.The two leaders also congratulated Elavenil, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa K Vinod after the trio won silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event.“My heartiest congratulations to Elavenil Valarivan for winning the silver medal in the women’s 10m individual air rifle at the 2026 Asian Games. Your outstanding performance has brought honor to the nation. I wish you all the best for greater success in the future,” Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a post on X.The President had earlier congratulated the Indian team for winning silver in shooting.Prime Minister Modi also praised the shooters for their performance. “Indian shooters continue to make us proud! Congratulations to Elavenil Valarivan for winning a silver medal in the women’s 10m air rifle event at the Asian Games. It was her second medal of the day which makes it even more special. I wish her the best of luck in her next endeavours: PM,” PMO said in a post on X.In another post, PMO said, “Hard work and teamwork leads to an excellent result! Proud of Sonam Uttam Maskar, Elavenil Valarivan and Vidarsa K Vinod for winning the 2026 Asian Games silver medal in the 10m Air Rifle Women event. Their success will inspire several athletes to come.”Elavenil finished second in the women’s 10m individual air rifle final behind Japan’s Hinata Taichi. South Korean Ban Hyojin won the bronze medal.Earlier, Elavenil, Sonam and Vidarsa opened India’s medal account at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games by winning silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event.India also had a strong day in several other sports. The women’s cricket team reached the gold medal match after defeating Bangladesh in the semi-finals. The men’s hockey team defeated Indonesia 13-1, the women’s hockey team defeated Uzbekistan 19-0.In table tennis, the Indian teams recorded wins over Indonesia and Singapore, while the women’s badminton team beat Kazakhstan 3-0.Elsewhere, Suchika Tariyal secured a medal in MMA, Rishabh Das finished sixth in the men’s 100m breaststroke final and Indian athletes also competed in wushu, teqball and swimming.