Rijiju hails India's Silver in Women's 50m Rifle 3P Team
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Three Indian women steadied their aim, held their nerve, and brought home silver — and Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju was among the first to mark the moment. On Saturday, 26 September 2026, Rijiju congratulated Vidarsa K Vinod, Ashi Chouksey, and Tilottama Sen on winning the Silver Medal in the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions Team event at the Asian Games 2026, saluting what he called 'a superb display of precision, composure and teamwork.'
Three positions, one silver, one united performance
The 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P) event is among the most technically demanding disciplines in Olympic-cycle shooting. Competitors fire from kneeling, prone, and standing positions, meaning a single lapse in posture or breath control across any phase can collapse a team's total score. That the Indian trio — Vidarsa K Vinod, Ashi Chouksey, and Tilottama Sen — executed all three with sufficient consistency to claim a podium finish underlines the depth of preparation behind the result.
Shooting's enduring place in India's Asian Games story
Shooting has been one of India's most reliable medal-producing disciplines at the Asian Games across successive editions, including the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games and the 2023 Hangzhou Games, where the sport contributed meaningfully to the national tally. National academies and federation-backed programmes have steadily widened the talent pipeline, and results like this silver reflect that investment bearing fruit at continental level.
The Olympic Council of Asia hosts the Games every four years, and each cycle the women's shooting events have grown more competitive as regional rivals sharpen their programmes. A team silver in this format — against that field — is a result worth marking.
Why a minister's congratulations carries weight
Successive governments have made a point of amplifying individual and team results from the Asian Games on official channels, treating podium finishes as evidence of a maturing sports ecosystem. Rijiju, a senior BJP leader who has previously served in sports-adjacent ministry roles, used the hashtags #AsianGames2026 and #Cheer4Bharat — a consistent signalling device that frames these wins as national moments, not merely sporting ones.
For Vidarsa K Vinod, Ashi Chouksey, and Tilottama Sen, the medal is the headline. The minister's post simply ensures the country is watching.
India's shooting programme heads into the remaining events at the 2026 Asian Games with a silver already on the board — and the question now is how many more the team can add before the closing ceremony.