Anurag Thakur hails India's silver in Women's 50m Rifle P3 Team
Synopsis
BJP MP Anurag Thakur congratulated shooters Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa K Vinod and Ashi Chouksey on winning silver in the Women's 50m Rifle P3 Team event at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, calling the trio a source of national pride.
Key Takeaways
Tilottama Sen , Vidarsa K Vinod , and Ashi Chouksey won silver in the Women's 50m Rifle P3 Team event at the Asian Games 2026 .
The Games are being held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan , continuing the quadrennial series after the 2022 Hangzhou edition .
BJP MP Anurag Thakur , former Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, publicly congratulated all three shooters by name.
Rifle shooting has been one of India's most consistent medal-producing disciplines across Asian Games cycles.
The result strengthens the three shooters' profiles ahead of selection processes for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics .
Silver, and the nation is saluting. India's women shooters Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa K Vinod, and Ashi Chouksey delivered a podium finish in the Women's 50m Rifle P3 Team event at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, drawing swift recognition from BJP MP Anurag Thakur, a former Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports.
Three shooters, one silver, a shared celebration
Thakur posted on Saturday, September 26, calling the trio 'the daughters' and declaring, 'You've made the entire nation proud.' His message captured the sentiment that surrounds India's rifle shooting contingent whenever it steps onto an Asian Games podium — a discipline that has become one of the country's most reliable medal-producing sports across the continental cycle.
The Women's 50m Rifle P3 is a precision event demanding extraordinary steadiness across multiple shooting positions. A team silver at this level reflects not just individual skill but months of coordinated training and range work among the three athletes.
India's rifle shooting record at the Asian Games
Rifle events have been a pillar of India's Asian Games shooting programme for over a decade. The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games saw India field a substantial shooting contingent, with rifle disciplines contributing meaningfully to the overall medal tally. The 2026 Aichi-Nagoya edition continues that tradition, with the women's team event result adding to the national count.
Thakur, who stewarded sports policy as Union Minister before the last general election, has consistently used his platform to spotlight Indian athletes on the international stage. His acknowledgement of all three shooters by name — rather than a generic congratulation — underscores how closely India's sporting ecosystem, including its political champions, now tracks individual athletes through the international pipeline.
What the podium means for the Olympic road ahead
A silver at the Asian Games feeds directly into selection conversations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Performance at continental-level competitions is one of the key markers India's national selectors weigh when finalising squads for the Games. For Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa K Vinod, and Ashi Chouksey, this result places them firmly in that conversation.
India still has events remaining at Aichi-Nagoya, and the final medal tally will determine where shooting sits in the country's overall Asian Games story. If this silver is any guide, the women's rifle programme is not finished making headlines.
Point of View
Making the discipline one of the most predictable contributors to the national medal haul. Anurag Thakur's public salute — naming each athlete individually — signals how political capital is now deliberately aligned with sporting achievement, particularly in Olympic-feeder events. A silver in a team rifle event carries weight beyond the podium: it feeds directly into the qualification and selection calculus for Los Angeles 2028. The question for selectors is whether this trio can replicate and improve upon the result on the Olympic stage.
NationPress
26 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won silver in the Women's 50m Rifle P3 Team event at Asian Games 2026?
Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa K Vinod and Ashi Chouksey won the silver medal for India in the Women's 50m Rifle P3 Team event at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
Where are the Asian Games 2026 being held?
The Asian Games 2026 are being held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
What did Anurag Thakur say about the Indian shooters?
BJP MP Anurag Thakur congratulated Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa K Vinod and Ashi Chouksey, calling them 'the daughters' and saying they had made the entire nation proud.
What is the Women's 50m Rifle P3 event?
The Women's 50m Rifle P3 is a precision shooting discipline contested at the Asian Games and other major international competitions, involving shooting from multiple positions over a set distance.
How does the Asian Games result affect India's Olympic selection?
Performance at the Asian Games is a key marker that Indian national selectors use when evaluating athletes for the Olympics; a silver medal in 2026 strengthens the shooters' cases ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
