Asian shooting: Elavenil clinches air rifle gold as Shambhavi breaks Asian junior record

Olympian Elavenil Valarivan held her nerve to fend off a strong challenge from Japan’s Misaki Nobata and clinch the women’s 10m air rifle gold at the Asian Championship here on Saturday, while Meghana Sajjanar also climbed the podium with a bronze medal.

The trio of Elavenil, Arya Borse and Meghana Sajjanar also topped the podium in the team event, capping a memorable day for India’s women’s rifle shooters at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range .

In the junior women’s 10m air rifle event, Shambhavi Kshirsagar shattered the Asian Junior Finals Record en route to gold as India swept the podium, with Manyata Singh and Aneesha Sharma claiming silver and bronze respectively in a superb display of marksmanship. Shambhavi, Aneesha and Sandrata Roy also combined to clinch the team gold, finishing ahead of Kazakhstan.

Elavenil was placed fifth after the first two five-shot series in the final but steadily clawed her way back, surging into the lead by the 18th shot. She held her composure till the end to win gold with a score of 252.0 . Misaki settled for silver with 251.5 , while Meghana took bronze with 229.5 .

Arya, who was in medal positions until the 18th shot, slipped out of contention after a low 9.8 , followed by two 10.2s . Misaki finished strongly with back-to-back 10.8s , but Elavenil responded with a series of high-value shots in the elimination stage, including a 10.9 , to seal the title.

The Indian trio of Elavenil, Arya and Meghana also clinched the team gold with a combined score of 1892.6 , ahead of Japan ( 1879.7 ) and Kazakhstan ( 1875.6 ).

In the junior women’s final, Shambhavi set a new Asian junior record with a stunning score of 253.7 , eclipsing the 253.1 set by Isha Anil Taksale in Jakarta in 2024. Dominant from the outset, she won gold by a four-point margin over Manyata ( 249.7 ).

Shambhavi’s last eight shots 10.7, 10.7, 10.8, 10.8, 10.9, 10.5, 10.9 and 10.7 underlined her dominance, while Aneesha secured bronze with 227.5 .

The junior team of Shambhavi, Aneesha and Sandrata Roy sealed gold with an impressive total of 1884.2 , well ahead of Kazakhstan ( 1854.4 ).

Earlier in the day, India swept the podium in the men’s 50m pistol event, with former 10m air pistol world No. 1 Saurabh Chaudhary clinching gold, followed by Kamaljeet Chaudhary and reigning world champion Ravinder Singh . Yogesh Kumar added to the haul by winning gold in the junior category of the event.