Elavenil Valarivan shoots India's second gold medal at Asian Championships 2025

Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan clinched the gold medal in the women's 10m air rifle competition of the 16th Asian Championships in Shymkent in Kazakhstan on Friday, August 22, with a characteristically composed performance in the final.

The 26-year-old from Tamil Nadu, who has won multiple gold medals in World Cups, shot a score of 253.6 to finish on top in the final and claim her second gold in the continental showpiece, the first coming way back in 2019 when she was honing her skills under the tutelage of Olympic medallist shooter Gagan Narang at his Gun for Glory Academy.

The silver went to China's Xinlu Peng with a score of 253, while Korea's Eunji Kwon (231.2) took home the bronze.

BRONZE IN SKEET MIXED TEAM

In the skeet mixed team, Abhay Singh Sekhon (65) and Ganemat Sekhon (73) shot 138 in qualification to make the second bronze medal match against Kuwait's Abdullah Alrashidi, a 62-year-old legend of the sport and a double Olympic bronze medallist, partnering Afrah Almohammad.

The Indians prevailed 39-37 in the 48-shot team contest, going into the final station just a point ahead. However, Afrah missed a couple while the other three missed just one of the last four, to give India another senior medal.

Coming back to the women's rifle final, this was Valarivan's first individual podium finish in the ongoing event having won a silver and bronze in the team events previously.

Another Indian in the fray, Mehuli Ghosh, signed off in fourth position after scoring 208.9 in the eight-shooter final.

Valarivan had qualified eighth for the final with a score of 630.7. Ghosh had originally finished 10th in the event with a score of 630.3 but made the final as two other higher-placed Indians -- Arya Borse (633.2) and Sonam Maskar (630.5) -- stepped aside since they were competing only for ranking points.

Meanwhile, Valarivan and Mehuli combined with Ananya Naidu (630.0) to win the team bronze in the women's 10m air rifle event with a total score of 1891. China won gold while Korea took silver.

Valarivan's medal was only the second senior individual gold for India in the continental showpiece, where the country is topping the charts thanks to a strong showing by its junior shooters.

Anantjeet Singh Naruka had claimed India's first senior gold in the men's skeet event. Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker had won the bronze medal in the women's 10m air pistol competition.