Two-time Olympian proves herself on the biggest stage of shooting against a stellar field; Ravinder wins 50m pistol gold
Elavenil Valarivan fired the biggest medal of her career, winning bronze medal in women’s 10m air rifle at the ISSF World Championship in Cairo, Egypt on Saturday. The two-time Olympian made the most of her good form to finish on the podium with a score of 232. The final was an intense high-scoring thriller that saw Korean reigning Olympic champion Ban Hyo-jin take gold (255 pts) while Chinese Wang Zifei, who was undefeated this season so far, finishing just a point behind to clinch silver.
Big medal
The Indian was brilliant and kept herself in contention for a bigger medal. Elavenil and Hyo-Jin held the top position after 14 shots (score 148.5) and it was incredible shooting towards the finish line. Elavenil’s next four shots were 10.4, 10.7, 10.9 and 10.6 as she took sole lead with her 17th shot and held it tightly at the end of 18th shot with a total score of 191.1. Hyojin was second at 190.8 and Zifei third at 190.5.
Cusp of glory
It was here that Elavenil slipped just at the cusp of glory, shooting a 10.0 in her 19th shot. She made amends with a 10.6 (211.7 total) but Hyojin (212.2) and Zifei (212.0) took the opportunity to consolidate their positions at the first and second place. A 9.9 in her 22nd shot saw Ela settle for the bronze medal.
This was a performance that was long awaited from Elavenil, who has been one of India’s best rifle shooters but nerves often got the better of her on the big stage. A former world No 1 she has competed in two Olympics.
World Cups
She has individual gold medals from world cups and Asian Championships and World Cup Finals. This world championship was an opportunity for her to prove that she can deliver at major events and she did just that. She has been in good form this year and won the Asian Championships title in Shymkent in August.
“It was definitely one of the most intense finals that I have ever been a part of,” said the Indian after the final.
Shot brilliant score
Elavenil shot a brilliant 633.4 in the qualification round to take the fifth spot. The qualification was topped by China’s Han Jiayu, the world champion from last edition, who shot an incredible 635.1. She eventually finished fifth.
The Indian women’s 10m air rifle team of Evalenil, Meghana Sajjanar (631.2, 17th) and Shreya Agrawal (628.7, 33rd) clinched bronze in the team event.
Ravinder wins gold
Earlier, India started with a bang as Ravinder Singh ensured the best possible start for the squad, winning gold in men’s 50m pistol, a non-Olympic discipline. Ravinder shot 569 in the men’s free pistol to finish on top of the 47-shooter competition. He also combined with Kamaljeet (540, 20th) and Yogesh Kumar (537, 24th) to win the team silver in the event.
Babuta 7th in final
In men’s, 10m air rifle Arjun Babuta qualified for the eight-shooter final with a score of 632.5 but finished seventh in the final (145.0). The men’s competition too turned out to be a cracker of a contest going till the last shot. German Maximilian Dallinger just about managed to beat Victor Lingdren of Sweden, the Olympic silver medallist, in the final and 24th shot. Both were tied at the same score of 241.8 after 23rd shot. Dallinger shot a 10.2 to Lingdren’s 9.9 to win the title as the German pumped his fist in elation.
Olympic champion
Olympic champion Sheng Lihao of China won the bronze medal. India’s Rudrankksh Patil, the 2022 world champion, finished 13th in qualification (631.4 points), while another Indian Vishal Singh came 61st (627.1)
ENDS
