Reliance Foundation (RF) athletes made a strong start at the Asian Games 2026 on Sunday, with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Unnati Hooda helping India record convincing victories in table tennis and badminton, respectively.

G Sathiyan set the tone for the Indian men’s table tennis team in their Group F opener against Indonesia, beating Muhammad Negara 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 in the opening rubber. India went on to complete a 3-0 victory, with Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah winning their respective matches.

RF athlete Payas Jain was also part of the Indian men’s squad for the continental showpiece.

In badminton, Unnati Hooda produced an impressive performance as the Indian women’s team swept Kazakhstan 3-0 in the round of 16. The RF athlete defeated Alissa Kuleshova 21-7, 21-10 in just 22 minutes after PV Sindhu had given India the lead. Tanvi Sharma completed the victory, sending India into a quarter-final against hosts Japan.

India add to medal tally

Elsewhere, India opened their medal account in shooting. Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod combined for 1898.0 points to take silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event. Elavenil then added another silver in the individual competition with a score of 252.4.

Suchika Tariyal also assured India of a medal in mixed martial arts (MMA) after beating Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa 2-0 to reach the women’s traditional -60kg semi-finals.

India’s women’s cricket team booked their place in the gold medal match with a commanding 114-run semi-final victory over Bangladesh. Shafali Verma struck an unbeaten 100 as India posted 195/4 before dismissing Bangladesh for 81.

There was disappointment in teqball, where Quimcy Dsouza missed out on a bronze in both the women’s singles and mixed doubles alongside Mohamed Anas Imran Beg.

Later in table tennis, India’s men suffered a 3-0 Group F defeat to Iran, with Manush Shah, Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai unable to build on the team’s earlier victory over Indonesia.