Elavenil Valarivan doubles up with individual silver in 10m air rifle

India's Elavenil Valarivan added an individual silver to the team silver she won earlier in the day, finishing runner-up in the women's 10m air rifle event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, Ngoya on Sunday. The 2025 world championship bronze medallist shot 252.4 points in the final to finish behind Japan's Hinata Taichi, who won gold with an Asian Games record 253.0. South Korea's Hyojin Ban took bronze with 230.4.
Elavenil entered the final two shots just 0.3 points behind Taichi and remained in contention after shooting 10.4 to the Japanese shooter's 10.6, which stretched the gap to 0.5. Needing a strong final shot to turn the tables, Elavenil managed 10.1, but Taichi held her nerve with a 10.2 to seal the gold and set a new Asian Games record. 
The silver was Elavenil's second medal of the day after she helped India win silver in the women's 10m air rifle team event earlier on Sunday, alongside Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod.In Ahmedabad, her mother  Dr. Saroja Valarivan says, "We were watching the match live this morning. She was right at the top—it looked like she was going to win gold—but in the final moments, she secured silver. Still, it is a silver for India and for Gujarat, and we are overjoyed. The whole family is delighted. It feels wonderful that she has brought a medal for India."

#WATCH | Ahmedabad, Gujarat: On Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan winning the Silver medal in the Women's 10m Air Rifle Team event at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Dr. Saroja Valarivan (mother of Elavenil Valarivan) says, "We were watching the match live this morning. She was right… pic.twitter.com/DZAoBOcwA2

— ANI (@ANI) September 20, 2026

India now have two shooting medals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games -- both silver, giving an encouraging start to their shooting campaign after they had produced a record 22-medal haul -- seven gold, nine silver and six bronze -- at the Hangzhou Asian Games.