Suchika Tariyal scripted history as she became the first Indian to win a mixed martial arts (MMA) medal while shooters bagged three medals on Monday (September 21), Day 2 of the ongoing Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya, Japan.
Suchika wept on the mat as being just 700gm more than Singaporean Hui Hoon Teo in the morning weigh-in prevented her from making the summit clash after a bitterly contested semifinal ended drawn. She had to settle for bronze, which was India’s first ever in the combat sport but one that could have been bettered.
India’s medal tally at six
The Indian’s slightly higher weight proved decisive as technical rules allowed the lighter competitor to move ahead in case of a draw.
India’s overall tally stood at six medals, four silver and two bronze, as the wait continued for a gold.
Also read: Asian Games: Himanshu Dhillon wins silver, Rudrankksh Patel bronze in 10m air rifle
The focus of the action was, however, the shooting range where three medals – two silver a bronze – were added to the kitty.
Youngsters Himanshu Dhillon and Rudrankksh Patil held their nerve in a gripping shootout to win the individual silver and bronze medals respectively in the men’s 10m air rifle after combining with teenager Parth Mane to fetch a team silver.
The three medals took India’s shooting tally to five – four silver and a bronze – but once again a gold was out of bounds as China, once again, set the benchmark with world number one Sheng Lihao’s commanding performance.
Sheng, Changhong Zhang and Sihan Ma amassed 1899.0 points to improve their own world record of 1898.4 set in Cairo last year for a gold.
The men’s team silver placed the spotlight on 18-year-old former junior world champion Parth Mane and 21-year-old Himanshu Dhillon, who is just about understanding the senior circuit in which the scores, pressure and competition demand an entirely different level of consistency.
Suchika’s heartbreak
Suchika etched her name in the history books as India’s first-ever Asiad medallist in MMA in the traditional women’s 60kg category. But far from celebrating, she was in tears, mourning the medal she could have won had she made the finals.
Also read: Asian Games: India win first medal, bag silver in women’s 10m air rifle team event
Hailing from Kiloi village in Haryana’s Rohtak district, the 36-year-old Suchika’s life is an astonishing of adaptability. She is a 2024 world champion in jiu-jitsu, represented the country in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in judo and as a kurash fighter at the 2022 Asian Games.
On Monday, she fought her heart out, only to be denied by technicalities. Thankfully it wasn’t before a medal was assured and she acknowledged how much it mattered to her after regaining her composure.
“This is more than my life. I will never forget that I came to Japan and got a medal for my country. I can now happily die,” she later told PTI.
The bright spots
There was plenty to celebrate for India following strong performances in badminton, hockey and table tennis. The Kabaddi teams were also off to winnings starts.
The women’s hockey team romped to a 17-1 win over Indonesia, continuing a confident onwards march which might also fetch it a ticket to the 2028 Olympic Games, provided they snare the gold.
On the badminton court, the men’s team sailed into the quarters, outplaying Bangladesh 3-0 after Lakshya Sen, K Srikanth and Ayush Shetty picked up comfortable singles wins, leading to cancellation of the doubles matches in the five-match rubber.
A similarly assured start came off in the boxing ring with Sumit Kundu (70kg) winning easily.
India’s women’s and men’s table tennis teams also advanced to the quarterfinals following identical 3-0 wins over their respective Pakistani rivals.
The women’s team swept aside Pakistan 3-0 in a one-sided tie to top Group F for its third win in a row while the men’s team also bounced back for the same scoreline.
Swimmers disappoint
The swimming campaign, however, kept faltering.
Srihari Nataraj finished a disappointing 10th in the 50m backstroke final at the Asian Games as Indian swimmers endured another forgettable day, with most of them failing to make it beyond the heats.
Nataraj, a two-time Olympian, clocked 25.52 seconds to finish last in the final, slower than his 25.37-second effort in the heats earlier in the day.
There was disappointment in soft tennis as well with Aadhya Tiwari and Jay Meena’s promising campaign in mixed doubles event coming to an end in the round of 16 after a hard-fought 2-5 loss to Philippines’ Christy Sanosa and Sherwin Ray Nuguit. The Indian pair went down 4-2, 2-4, 2-4, 3-5, 2-4, 5-3, 6-8.
Tuesday’s medal events for India
On Tuesday (September 22), all eyes will be on Indian women cricketers as they face Sri Lanka in the gold medal match. India are favourites to win the final and clinch gold.
Also, Indian shooters will be in action and are expected to win medals in men’s and women’s skeet finals. Also, Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane team up in 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team qualification and medal rounds.
In wushu, India’s Langlentombi Devi Hanjabam will compete in the women’s Nanquan final.
(With agency inputs)