India's Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane secured a medal chance at Asian Games 2026, finishing second in the 10m air rifle mixed team qualification with a score of 634.9, which surpassed the existing Asian record.

Elavenil, Parth secure medal chance in 10m air rifle

India’s Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane finished second in the 10m air rifle mixed team qualification at the Asian Games 2026, registering a score of 634.9. India's strong qualifying performance puts Elavenil and Parth in contention for a medal in the mixed team event.

China topped the qualification with 638.9, setting a new world record and improving on the previous mark of 636.9. India made a strong start to the qualification and reached 211.9 after 20 shots. The Indian pair maintained their position through the remainder of the qualification to finish with 634.9, also surpassing the existing Asian record.

China completed its qualification ahead of the other teams and posted the record score of 638.9. Sheng Lihao, who had also competed in the men's 10m air rifle qualification on Monday, helped China finish its set of shots early. South Korea and Iran were still completing their shots when China and India finished their qualification, with the final standings to be confirmed after all teams completed their rounds.

New final format

The format for the final has been changed this year. Instead of separate gold and bronze medal matches, all four qualified teams will compete simultaneously in the final, following a format similar to the individual events, with periodic eliminations.

Aadhya Tiwari faces setback in soft tennis

Meanwhile, India’s Aadhya Tiwari began her Asian Games 2026 campaign with a 1-4 loss to Thailand’s Alisha Ziegler in the women’s singles Group D soft tennis event on Tuesday.

Aadhya fought hard but went down 4-1, 0-4, 0-4, 2-4, 4-6 against Ziegler in her opening group-stage match.

The Indian player will look to bounce back in her next Group D match against Pakistan’s Kainaat Shallwani later on Tuesday. Aadhya will need a win in her next outing to strengthen her position in the group and keep her hopes alive in the competition.

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