What is the story about?
India made a strong start to its shooting campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday, with Elavenil Valarivan playing a central role in a double-silver haul in the women's 10m air rifle competition. The experienced rifle shooter helped India finish second in the team event before adding an individual silver, narrowly missing out on gold after Japan's Hinata Taichi produced a decisive finish.
Elavenil, a 2025 World Championship bronze medallist, finished the individual final with 252.4 points, just 0.6 behind Taichi, who won gold with an Asian Games-record 253.0. South Korea's Ban Hyo-jin, the reigning world champion and Paris Olympics gold medallist, took bronze with 230.4 points.
The individual silver was Elavenil's first Asian Games medal in the event after she had competed at the 2018 Jakarta and 2022 Hangzhou editions without reaching the podium.
After the 17th shot, Elavenil held a 1.4-point advantage over Ban, with Taichi in third place. She remained ahead of the Japanese shooter by 0.2 points after the 21st shot, but the gap began to disappear as the final approached its decisive stage.
Elavenil entered the final two shots only 0.3 points behind Taichi. She responded with a 10.4, but Taichi matched the pressure with a 10.6 to extend her lead to 0.5. With one shot remaining, Elavenil needed to produce a stronger score than the Japanese shooter to reclaim the top spot, but her 10.1 was followed by Taichi's 10.2, sealing the gold medal and a new Asian Games record.
Reflecting on the finish, Elavenil said she may have relaxed slightly after establishing herself among the leading shooters, while acknowledging that she needed to sharpen her performances in finals.
“I think I knew that somewhere I was in the top three and although I was coming back to focusing on my process and my technique, I did get a bit relaxed. I really need to work on my finals some more. I think that’s all. I felt I gave my absolute best and I’m glad it turned out that way,” she said.
Elavenil, a 2025 World Championship bronze medallist, finished the individual final with 252.4 points, just 0.6 behind Taichi, who won gold with an Asian Games-record 253.0. South Korea's Ban Hyo-jin, the reigning world champion and Paris Olympics gold medallist, took bronze with 230.4 points.
The individual silver was Elavenil's first Asian Games medal in the event after she had competed at the 2018 Jakarta and 2022 Hangzhou editions without reaching the podium.
After the 17th shot, Elavenil held a 1.4-point advantage over Ban, with Taichi in third place. She remained ahead of the Japanese shooter by 0.2 points after the 21st shot, but the gap began to disappear as the final approached its decisive stage.
Elavenil entered the final two shots only 0.3 points behind Taichi. She responded with a 10.4, but Taichi matched the pressure with a 10.6 to extend her lead to 0.5. With one shot remaining, Elavenil needed to produce a stronger score than the Japanese shooter to reclaim the top spot, but her 10.1 was followed by Taichi's 10.2, sealing the gold medal and a new Asian Games record.
Reflecting on the finish, Elavenil said she may have relaxed slightly after establishing herself among the leading shooters, while acknowledging that she needed to sharpen her performances in finals.
“I think I knew that somewhere I was in the top three and although I was coming back to focusing on my process and my technique, I did get a bit relaxed. I really need to work on my finals some more. I think that’s all. I felt I gave my absolute best and I’m glad it turned out that way,” she said.
