Elavenil Valarivan narrowly missed out on gold to settle for silver in the women’s 10m air rifle at the 2026 Asian Games

Elavenil Valarivan (image credit: X) NEW DELHI: Elavenil Valarivan narrowly missed out on gold after a strong performance in the women’s 10m individual air rifle final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, settling for silver with a cumulative score of 252.4.Japan’s Taichi Hinata secured gold with 253.0, while South Korea’s Ban Hyojin took bronze with 230.4.The 27-year-old Indian shooter battled for the top spot throughout the final, but fell behind Hinata by just 0.6 points. The silver adds to the medal she already won in the team competition and further underscores her consistency at the Games.Elavenil had earlier teamed up with Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod to win silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event, giving India its first medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.The Indian trio finished with a team total of 1,898 points, behind gold medalists China, while Japan finished fourth.Elavenil was India’s standout performer in the team event, scoring 633.5 points to qualify for the individual finals. Sonam also made it to the finals, finishing sixth with a cumulative score of 167.0.

From team silver to individual silver

The individual final featured a strong Asian field with shooters from India, Japan, China and South Korea. Elavenil was drawn at shooting point E on the starting list, alongside compatriot Sonam, Japan’s Taichi Hinata and Nobata Misaki, China’s Han Jiayu and Wang Zifei and South Korea’s Ban Hyojin and Kwon Yun.Having already contributed to India’s team silver, Elavenil entered the individual competition with another medal opportunity and remained firmly in the race for gold till the closing stages.Her silver gives India its second medal in the women’s 10m air rifle event and keeps the shooting contingent at the center of the country’s medal campaign.Earlier, Suchika Tariyal also assured India of a medal after defeating Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa to reach the semi-finals of the women’s 60kg traditional MMA event. Her victory secured India’s first ever Asian Games medal in MMA, which is making its debut at the Games.For Elavenil, however, the race ended in silver, a strong finish that came agonizingly close to gold.