The Indian duo rallied from a slow start to outclass China’s Dingke Lu and Xinlu Peng 17-11 in the final. After tentative early scores of 9.5 and 10.1, Babuta and Elavenil found their rhythm and produced a clinical display to seal the title.
Photo: IANS
India’s shooters continued their dominance at the 16th Asian Shooting Championship in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, with Arjun Babuta and Elavenil Valarivan clinching gold in the 10m air rifle mixed team event on Saturday.
The Indian duo rallied from a slow start to outclass China’s Dingke Lu and Xinlu Peng 17-11 in the final. After tentative early scores of 9.5 and 10.1, Babuta and Elavenil found their rhythm and produced a clinical display to seal the title.
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For Elavenil Valarivan, this marked her second gold medal at the championship, following her triumph in the women’s 10m air rifle individual event on Friday. In that contest, she shot 253.6 points, narrowly edging out China’s Peng Xinlu (253.0) and Korea’s Kwon Eunji (231.2), becoming a continental champion for the first time.
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Elavenil, who has represented India at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics, has consistently shown her ability to deliver under pressure, cementing her status as one of Asia’s premier shooters.
India’s success has been widespread in Shymkent. Earlier, the men’s 10m air rifle team of Babuta, Rudrankksh Patil, and Kiran Jadhav captured gold, while Elavenil, alongside Mehuli Ghosh and Ananya Naidu, claimed bronze in the women’s team event. Ghosh also narrowly missed out on a medal in the individual final, finishing fourth.
At the last count, India topped the medal standings with 21 gold, eight silver, and ten bronze, well ahead of China’s tally of nine gold and 19 overall.
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