The campaign in Aichi-Nagoya may already be three days old, and the Games themselves were formally declared open on Saturday, but September 20 represents the first genuinely packed day for the Indian contingent. What began with a narrow programme dominated by teqball, cricket and soft tennis will suddenly spread across nine sports, with Indian athletes in action from shortly after 5 am IST until the evening.
The day begins at 5:10 am with Suchika Tariyal facing Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa in the women’s Traditional 60kg mixed martial arts quarterfinal. Barely 20 minutes later, Suraj Singh Mayanglambam will contest the men’s Changquan final in wushu, giving India an early opportunity to enter the medal conversation. Shooting follows at 6:15 am, with Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod contesting the women’s 10m air rifle qualification and team final. The individual final follows at 11 am for those who qualify, making the event one of India’s most significant medal opportunities during the opening half of the day. The 24-year-old narrowly missed the women’s singles final after losing a three-set semifinal to Indonesia’s Ima Sumaya on Saturday, despite winning the opening set. She now faces Japan’s Yuina Sakamoto at 6:30 am in the bronze-medal match. The Indian women begin against Indonesia at 6:30 am and return to face Singapore at 12:30 pm, while the men take on Indonesia at 9 am before meeting Iran at 3 pm. The most consequential team fixture of the day arrives at 10:30 am, when India face Bangladesh in the women’s cricket semifinal. After dismissing Japan for just 57, with Sree Charani claiming four wickets, India required only five overs to complete an eight-wicket victory. Shafali Verma hammered an unbeaten 40 from 15 balls to turn what could have been a cautious chase into a procession.
There are medals available, campaigns beginning and a place in a cricket final at stake. Wushu and shooting provide early podium opportunities, Quimcy Dsouza has two shots at a historic teqball bronze, both Indian hockey teams begin their tournaments, while the women’s cricket team face Bangladesh in a semifinal. But some of Sunday’s most intriguing possibilities lie in a sport that did not exist on the Asian Games programme until this edition. Quimcy Dsouza enters the morning with two chances to finish on the podium in teqball. Table tennis will stretch almost throughout the day. Swimming adds another dimension to the morning programme, with Akash Mani competing in the men’s 100m freestyle heats and Utkarsh Patil and Rishabh Das featuring in the 100m backstroke. India entered the tournament as defending Asian Games champions and made an emphatic start against hosts Japan in Friday’s quarterfinal.
