Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan grabs Asian Games silver
Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan captured a hard-fought silver medal during Sunday's women's 10m air rifle final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. She narrowly missed gold after a thrilling battle with Japan's Hinata Taichi. South Korean marksman Ban Hyojin completed the podium by securing bronze. Over recent Asian and Olympic cycles, Indian athletes have built formidable reputations in precision shooting events. Elavenil looked completely focused right from her opening shots. She claimed an early lead by scoring 53.1 in her first series. Fellow Indian shooter Sonam Maskar scored 52.1 and initially placed seventh. By the 10-shot mark, Elavenil retained her top spot with 106.0 points. Sonam improved her position to tie for fifth with 104.2 points.
Intense elimination rounds
As shooters began facing elimination, Elavenil maintained her calm demeanor. She delivered crucial shots of 10.6 and 10.3 to reach 126.9 points after 12 attempts. She stretched her lead to 148.4 points by the 14th shot. Sonam reached fourth place momentarily but eventually finished sixth overall. Elavenil kept landing excellent shots of 10.6 and 10.1 to lead the pack with 190.3 points.
Pressure mounted as the competition reached its final stages. Elavenil held the lead after 20 shots with 211.1 points, just ahead of Hinata who sat at 210.8. Hinata surged ahead after the 22nd shot to reach 232.2, pushing Elavenil into second place with 231.9. On her final attempt, Elavenil scored 10.1 while Hinata managed 10.2 to seal gold.
Earlier in the day, Elavenil, Sonam, and Vidarsa Vinod secured silver in the team event. India also celebrated a traditional 60kg MMA medal from Suchika Tariyal, a dominant 19-0 women's hockey victory over Uzbekistan, and a 3-0 women's table tennis win against Indonesia.
With Inputs from Agency Threads and Image Courtesy: ANI
