Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan claimed the silver medal in the women's 10m air rifle final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 on Sunday, adding to India's successful opening run in shooting at the Games.
Elavenil came in second behind gold medalist Hinata Taichi of Japan, while South Korea's Ban Hyojin took the bronze.
Starting the final in peak form, Elavenil grabbed the top spot following the first series with a 53.1 score. Fellow Indian shooter Sonam Maskar finished her first series at 52.1 to rank seventh.
Elavenil held onto first place after 10 shots with a 106.0 score, while Sonam posted a 104.2 to move into a tie for fifth.
Also read: Asian Games 2026: Three shooters, one target: How Sonam, Elavenil and Vidarsa won silver
When the elimination phase started, Elavenil maintained her steady precision, opening with a 10.6 and following up with a 10.3. Sonam also delivered high scores with a 10.6 and a 10.7. Through 12 shots, Elavenil remained atop the leaderboard at 126.9, Sonam rose to fourth with 125.4, and South Korea's Yuna Kwan was eliminated.
Elavenil kept control over the next stretch, scoring 10.8 and 10.7 to stretch her lead to 148.4 after 14 shots. At that mark, Sonam sat in fourth place while China's Jiayu Han was knocked out.
During the subsequent series, Elavenil put up a 10.7 and a 10.5 to keep her lead. Sonam scored a 9.9 and a 10.5, ending her final in sixth place.
Elavenil pressed on with a 10.6 on shot 17 and a 10.1 on shot 18, reaching 190.3 points to maintain first place. She stayed out front through 20 shots with 211.1 points, closely trailed by Japan's Hinata Taichi at 210.8.
The Indian markswoman stayed in medal position after a 10.5 on her 21st shot, though Hinata and South Korea's Ban Hyojin trailed closely. Following 22 shots, Elavenil slipped to second with 231.9 points, just behind Hinata's 232.2.
On the final attempt, Elavenil registered a 10.1, while Hinata scored a 10.2 to seal the gold. Elavenil took the silver medal after a impressive performance throughout the event.
Earlier in the day, India launched its Asian Games medal count with a silver in the women's 10m air rifle team competition, where Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar, and Vidarsa Vinod finished as runners-up.
In other sports, Suchika Tariyal guaranteed a medal in women's traditional 60kg MMA by overcoming Mongolia's Altanchimeg Baigalmaa in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, the Indian women's hockey team kicked off their tournament with a decisive 19-0 rout of Uzbekistan, and the women's table tennis team earned a 3-0 win against Indonesia in their Group F fixture.
