Asian Games 2026: Elavenil Valarivan clinches India's first-ever air rifle women's silver

Shooter Elavenil Valarivan scripted history by becoming India’s first-ever Asian Games silver medallist in the women’s 10m air rifle individual event in Aichi, Japan, on Sunday.

The reigning world bronze medallist scored 252.4 in the final to finish second behind Japan’s Hinata Taichi and claim her maiden individual Asian Games medal.

She is now only the third Indian shooter to win a medal in this event, following the bronze medals won by Soma Dutta in 1986 and Ramita Jindal in 2022.

Elavenil led the competition from the start until the 21st shot, but a few low-scoring shots in the closing stages saw her lose the lead and settle for silver.

Earlier in the day, India claimed its first medal of the 2026 Asian Games with a silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event to begin their shooting campaign.

The trio of Elavenil, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod secured the silver with a combined score of 1898, finishing behind China’s 1904.2.

This marked India’s second consecutive silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event after Hangzhou 2022. It was also the first Asian Games medal for all three shooters, with India fielding a new team in the event this time.

Sonam (634.1) and Elavenil (633.5) had advanced to the individual final, finishing in third and fifth positions respectively, while Vidarsa (630.4) finished 12th.

While Elavenil bagged the silver medal, Sonam finished in 6th place with a total of 167 at the 16-shot elimination stage, and India ended the day with two silvers.