Asian Games 2026: Actor R Madhavan's son Vedaant's team loses in swimming relay

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Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj was the shining light in an overall lacklustre Indian swimming squad at the Asian Games on Monday, advancing to the men’s 50m backstroke final. Meanwhile, actor R Madhavan’s son Vedaant lost in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay.

Srihari Nataraj, the two-time Olympian, registered a time of 25.37 seconds, matching the mark set by Iran’s Homer Abbasi to claim third position in his heat and a joint-ninth finish overall, securing his berth in the event final. 

Rishabh Das, who previously placed sixth in the 100m backstroke event on Sunday, clocked 25.41 seconds to place 11th in the overall standings, narrowly missing out on qualification to take the reserve spot.

In the men’s 50m freestyle heats, Akash Mani and Geetesh Shah recorded 26th and 28th-place finishes overall. Akash touched first in his heat with a time of 23.43 seconds, while Geetesh ended last in his heat after touching the wall in 23.57 seconds.

Danush Suresh also exited during qualification in the men’s 100m breaststroke. He finished eighth in his heat and 22nd overall, posting a time of 1:03.46.

In team competition, the Indian squad missed out on the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay final. The four-member team of Sajan Prakash, Dhakshan Shashikumar, Vedaant Madhavan, and Aneesh Sunil placed ninth among 13 competing nations with a time of 7:24.32, finishing just outside the top-eight qualification threshold required to advance.

India confirm medals in Rifle shooting

India’s success on the shooting range continued as the trio of Rudrankksh Patil, Parth Mane, and Himanshu Dhillon clinched a silver medal in the men’s 10m air rifle team competition at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday.

The Indian squad confirmed second place with a total score of 1890.1, finishing behind China, who took the gold medal with a tally of 1899.0. South Korea claimed the bronze medal after scoring 1841.4 points. The result secured India’s third medal of the Asian Games 2026, with all three podium finishes being silver medals earned in shooting events.

Monday’s podium finish followed Sunday’s strong start in the women’s 10m air rifle events. Elavenil Valarivan claimed a silver medal in the individual final, while Valarivan, Sonam Uttam Maskar, and Vidarsa Kochalumkal Vinod together won the team silver medal on a successful outing for the Indian team.

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