SHYMKENT, 22 AUG

Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan clinched the gold medal in women's 10m air rifle competition of the 16th Asian Championships here on Friday 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 in Taiwan 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.

This was Valarivan's first individual podium finish in the ongoing event, having won a silver and a 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.

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.

Juniors continue to dominate

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The trio of Shambhavi Shravan, Hrudya Shri Kondur and Isha Anil won the gold medal in the team gold in the women's junior 10m air rifle competition with a combined total of 1896.2, which is a junior world and Asian record.

The teams from China and South Korea bagged the silver and bronze, respectively.

Consistent Valarivan

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One of India's most consistent women rifle shooters for some years now, Valarivan has time and again proven her mettle against the best in the world, be it in the World Cup, the season-ending World Cup Finals, or the Asian Championship.

Currently ranked 11th, she is now set to storm into the top-10, which is not an uncharted territory for the Indian ace, having once achieved the world number one ranking in her category.

Known for her unwavering focus and mental fortitude under pressure, Valarivan is now aiming for glory at next year's Asian Games, but before that, she will want to do well at the ISSF World Championships, where she has a team bronze but no individual honours.

Besides the Olympics, the World and Asian Games are some of the events in which Valarivan is yet to taste success in the individual events.