Elavenil Valarivan wins gold as India dominate Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship

India dominated the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship in New Delhi, winning ten gold medals on day four. Elavenil Valarivan clinched gold in 10m Air Rifle, Shambhavi Kshirsagar set a new Asian Junior record, and Ojasvi Thakur won the youth category

Hyderabad: Olympian Elavenil Valarivan held off Japan’s Misaki Nobata to clinch gold in the 10m Air Rifle women’s event, while Shambhavi Kshirsagar broke the Asian Junior Finals record en route to winning gold in the junior category at the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, New Delhi, on Saturday.

Meghana Sajjanar joined Elavenil on the podium with a bronze medal, while Manyata Singh and Aneesha Sharma, along with Shambhavi, ensured India swept the junior women’s podium.

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India continued their dominance in the championship, winning ten gold medals on day four to take their tally to 43 medals, including 27 gold, 10 silver and eight bronze. Ojasvi Thakur secured gold in the women’s youth category.

India began the day by sweeping the podium in the 50m Men’s Pistol event. Former 10m Air Pistol World No 1 Saurabh Chaudhary won gold, followed by Kamaljeet Chaudhary with silver and current World Champion Ravinder Singh with bronze. Yogesh Kumar won gold in the junior category of the event.

Elavenil, placed fifth after two series, clawed back into the lead by the 18th shot and held her composure till the end. Nobata Misaki and Meghana Sajjanar finished close behind. Arya Borse, in medal contention until the 18th shot, missed out after a low 9.8. Nobata finished with two 10.8s, but Elavenil’s consistency, including a 10.9, sealed the win. The Indian trio also won the team gold with a combined score of 1892.6.

In the junior finals, Shambhavi set a new Asian Junior record of 253.7, surpassing Isha Anil Taksale’s 253.1 from Jakarta in 2024. She dominated from the start and won gold with a four-point lead over Manyata Singh (249.7). Aneesha Sharma took bronze with 227.5. Shambhavi, Aneesha and Sandrata Roy combined to win team gold with 1884.2.

Ojasvi Thakur ensured India won all gold medals on offer, clinching the youth category with 250.4. Sri Lanka’s Umaya Ovitigala Withanage won silver, while Yasmin Figila Achadiat took bronze. Ojasvi, Anvii Vikram Rathod and Hrudya Shri Kondur also won team gold with 1890.6.