New Delhi, Feb 7 (IANS): Olympian Elavenil Valarivan narrowly defeated Japan’s Misaki Nobata to win gold in the 10m Air Rifle women’s event. Meanwhile, Shambhavi Kshirsagar set a new record at the Asian Junior Finals and took gold in the junior category at the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship 2026, held at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi.
Meghana Sajjanar also made it to the podium with a bronze medal, and along with Manyata Singh and Aneesha Sharma, helped India achieve a clean sweep of the Junior women’s medals.
India maintained their dominance in the championship, winning ten gold medals on the fourth day of competition, bringing their total medal count to 43, with 27 gold, 10 silver, and eight bronze. Ojasvi Thakur also earned gold in the women’s youth category.
India began the day by dominating the podium in the 50m Men’s Pistol event, with former 10m Air Pistol World No 1 Saurabh Chaudhary taking gold. He was followed by Kamaljeet Chaudhary and current World Champion Ravinder Singh, who won silver and bronze, respectively. Additionally, Yogesh Kumar secured gold in the junior category.
Elavenil was in fifth place after two series but gradually moved into the lead by the 18th shot. She maintained her composure to stay at the top, with Nobata Misaki and Meghana close behind. Arya Borse, who was in medal position until the 18th shot, missed out after scoring a low 9.8, followed by two 10.2’s. Nobata finished her finals with two consecutive 10.8s, while Elavenil achieved ten hits averaging 10.6 in the elimination stage, including one 10.9. The Indian team also secured gold with a combined score of 1892.6.
In the Junior finals, Shambhavi set a new Asian Junior record of 253.7, surpassing Isha Anil Taksale's 253.1 from Jakarta in 2024. She started strongly and maintained her lead to win gold, finishing with a four-point margin over Manyata Singh, who scored 249.7. Her last eight shots were 10.7, 10.7, 10.8, 10.8, 10.9, 10.5, 10.9, and 10.7, demonstrating her dominance. Aneesha Sharma earned bronze with a final score of 227.5. Together, Shambhavi, Aneesha, and Sandrata Roy secured the team gold with a total score of 1884.2.
Ojasvi Thakur secured all the gold medals available for India on that day, winning the Youth category with a final score of 250.4. Sri Lanka’s Umaya Ovitigala Withanage took silver, while Yasmin Figila Achadiat earned bronze. Ojasvi also teamed up with Anvii Vikram Rathod and Hrudya Shri Kondur to win the team gold with a score of 1890.6.
Other Results
50m Pistol Men
Gold - Saurabh Chaudhary (India) – 563-12x
Silver - Kamaljeet Chaudhary (India) – 561-16x
Bronze - Ravinder Singh (India) – 559-10x
50m Pistol Men Team
Gold – India
Silver – Uzbekistan
Bronze – Vietnam
50m Pistol Junior Men
Gold - Yogesh Kumar (India) – 557-10x
Silver - Sodikjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan) – 544-10x
Bronze - Guntajpreet Singh (India) – 542-7x
The medals for the mixed team event in Air Rifle will be awarded on Sunday.
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This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, and an errant typo, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.