Elavenil Valarivan gets a spot in Indian team for Tokyo test event

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has announced a 17-member shooting team for the Olympic test event to be held at the Asanka Range in Tokyo, from 16 April 16 to 25 April. The event is for shooters who have qualified for the Olympics.

India will have 14 Olympic qualified shooters. Tejaswini Sawant, who won the Olympic in the women’s rifle 3-position event, has been kept out and she will be replaced by Anjum Moudgil in the 3-position event.

The two spots in the women’s air rifle belong to Apurvi Chandela and Elavenil Valarivan. Initially it was Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi who won the quotas for the Olympics in 10m air rifle. But Elavenil showed some brilliant performance lately and ended the year as no. 1, which is why Anjum's name was dropped, and Elavenil is going for the Test Event.

20-year-old Elavenil, who hails from Tamil Nadu, represented India at the 2018 ISSF Junior World Cup and won a gold medal. She followed that up with a silver in world university Games in 2019. That same year, she won Gold at World Junior World Cup Suhl 2019. She also won two junior World Cup gold and a silver at juniors’ 2018 World Championships.

But her breakthrough moment came in December 2019, when she climbed to the top of the women’s rankings after winning gold in the 10m Air Rifle event at the ISSF World Cup in Putian, China.

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As for the men, India has not won any Olympic quota in men’s rapid fire pistol event, but have fielded Anish Bhanwala and Adarsh Singh in the event.