Nagoya [Japan], September 20 (ANI): Indian shooting team's High Performance Manager Ronak Pandit expressed satisfaction after India's opening medal from shooting at the Asian Games 2026, saying the result was expected from one of the country's strong events.

India secured the silver medal in the women's 10m air rifle team event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, with Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod combining to deliver the country's first medal of the Games on Sunday. 

The Indian trio finished with a team total of 1898 points, placing them behind China in the standings. Japan finished fourth, while Korea remained in contention with one shooter still to complete her series. Elavenil Valarivan produced a standout performance, finishing with 633.5 points, and has also booked her place in the individual final. Sonam Maskar is through to the final as well.

Speaking to ANI on Sunday, Pandit said the competition was intense among the top teams, especially China, Korea and India, while praising the athletes for their performance.

'Great, I mean this was absolutely expected. It was one of our strong events and also very tight as an event because you know China, Korea, India all neck to neck. And surprise element was Japan today, we did not expect Japan to be this strong but I think after the first relay we were actually placed fourth,' he said told ANI.

'But one of our stronger shooters was in the second relay and she did pretty well. So, I think this is a result we are happy with. And more importantly, we are happy with the performance of our athletes, I think they performed very well,' Pandit added.

He also highlighted that two Indian shooters have qualified for the individual final, adding that the team is hoping for an improved result.

'We have two athletes now in the finals, anyways maximum two athletes are allowed in the finals, we have both of them. So, let's hope we have an even better result in the finals in a couple of hours,' he said.

Talking about expectations from the shooting contingent, including Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, Pandit said the team has prepared well and trained according to the conditions in Nagoya.

'Everyone has trained very well, very hard. We've been smart in our trainings, we have simulated the conditions that are here. You may have seen, this is unlike any other range, it is so small, it is so chaotic. It's like a market more than a range. And we have trained our athletes for that,' he said.

Pandit further said the team had prepared contingency plans to deal with challenges during international competitions and credited the support staff and organisations for their assistance.

'Before leaving India, we have a team meeting where we discuss our contingency plans, our what-if scenarios. You may have things goofing up by the organizers, sometimes athletes themselves might forget their shooting shoes or some part of the equipment, you might reach the venue where the airline loses your bag,' he said.

'We are pretty sure everyone will give their best performances. And that's all we can do, we can give our best performances and then the rest is up to how others do. A champion is not someone who performs in ideal conditions. A champion is someone who performs irrespective of the conditions,' Pandit added.

He also thanked the Indian Olympic Association, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Sports Authority of India for providing the required support to the team.

'We as a team have ensured that we anticipate all these problems in advance and we have a large enough support team contingent to guide them, and I'm very happy with the IOA, with the ministry, with the SAI, who, who provided us with all the assistance we need. And yeah, we're grateful for all that,' Ronak added. (ANI)