Sawan Barwal and Indian shooters star with silver medals at Asian Games

Sawan Barwal won a silver medal in the men's marathon at the Asian Games on Saturday, September 26, 2026, setting a new national record with a time of 2:11:37. The 28-year-old Army athlete from Himachal Pradesh finished behind Japan's Ichitaka Yamashita, who clocked 2:10:49, while China's Peiyou Feng took bronze in 2:12:13. This is India's first Asian Games marathon medal since Hosur Kukkappa Seetharan's bronze in 1982, making Barwal only the fourth Indian to win a medal in this event. In shooting, the Indian trio of Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa Vinod and Ashi Chouksey secured a silver medal in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions team event with a total score of 1763. China won the gold with a games record of 1773, and Kazakhstan took bronze with 1754. Ashi Chouksey and Tilottama Sen also placed in the top three in the individual section with scores of 395-25x and 395-23x before standing. Meanwhile, shooter Sonam Maskar expressed happiness after winning a silver medal in the women's 10m air rifle team event, noting that public support motivated the team. Elite rifle shooter Elavenil Valarivan also won an individual silver after beating reigning Olympic and world champion Ban Hyojin of South Korea. In badminton, Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen suffered a second-round exit after losing to former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 12-21 21-15 14-21 in a match lasting over an hour at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium.