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Following the victory of Anantjeet Singh Naruka in the men’s skeet event, the Indian contingent has clinched another gold medal at the 16th Asian Shooting Championships. This victory has put the Indian contingent on the second position of the medal tally with three gold, eight silver, and seven bronze medals at the latest count, largely driven by India’s junior contingent. The women’s 10m air rifle final was reportedly a tense affair, with Elavenil Valarivan facing stiff competition from China’s 16-year-old Xinlu Peng and South Korea’s Eunji Kwon.
Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan delivered a masterclass in composure and precision to claim the gold medal in the women’s 10m air rifle event on Friday, August 22. The 26-year-old from Tamil Nadu, a two-time Olympian and former world number one, posted a score of 253.6 in the 24-shot final, setting a new Asian finals record and securing her second individual gold in the continental showpiece, her first coming in 2019 in Taoyuan, China. Elavenil’s teammate Mehuli Ghosh, despite a strong showing, narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth with a score of 208.9 in the eight-shooter final.
Indian contingent also won a team bronze medal in the women’s 10m air rifle event
Mehuli Ghosh, a World Championship silver medallist, started strongly in the final, leading with 53.1 after the first round. However, a 9.8 in the second round dropped her to fifth, and she couldn’t recover, finishing just outside the medals. Elavenil Valarivan’s individual triumph was complemented by a team bronze in the women’s 10m air rifle event, where she, Mehuli Ghosh, and Ananya Naidu combined for a total score of 1891.0, finishing behind China (1902.0, world record) and South Korea (1897.5).
Beyond the rifle events, India added to their medal haul in the skeet mixed team competition, where Abhay Singh Sekhon and Ganemat Sekhon secured a bronze with a 39-37 victory over Kuwait’s Abdullah Alrashidi and Afrah Almohammad. In the junior category, Yashasvi Rathore and Harmehar Singh Lally clinched gold in the mixed skeet team event, defeating Kazakhstan 39-36, while the women’s junior 10m air rifle team of Shambhavi Kshirsagar, Hrudya Sri Kondur, and Isha Anil set a junior world and Asian record with a combined score of 1896.2.
