Elavenil Valarivan strikes 10m air rifle gold in Asian Shooting Championship

Shymkent (Kazakhstan), Aug 22 (PTI) Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan clinched the gold medal in women's 10m air rifle competition of the 16th Asian Championships here on Friday with an impressively composed performance in the final.

The 26-year-old from Tamil Nadu, who has multiple gold medals in World Cups and has also been a top-finisher in the World Championships, shot a score of 253.6 to finish on top in the final.

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 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. PTI PM PM APA APA