Olympians Elavenil Valarivan and Arjun Babuta combined clinical precision and big-match composure to win gold in the 10m Air Rifle mixed team event, as India’s medal tally surged past the 50-mark at the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range.
On a day marked by dominance across categories, India ended Day 5 with an imposing 54 medals 34 gold, 12 silver and eight bronze firmly ahead of Uzbekistan (3 gold, 1 silver) and Indonesia (1 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze) in the standings.
Elavenil and Arjun Deliver Again
Fresh from her individual gold, Elavenil continued her imperious run in the mixed team event, shooting a remarkable 253.4 across 24 shots. Arjun, who began his series with a 9.5, regrouped superbly and closed strongly to finish with 251.6. Their combined total of 505.0 secured the gold medal with authority. The Indian pair finished four points clear of Korea’s Kwon Eunji and Kim Woorim, who claimed silver with 501.0. Japan’s Misaki Nobata and Naoya Okada took bronze with a combined score of 437.1.
The victory further cemented India’s control over the rifle events, with Elavenil showcasing consistency and Arjun demonstrating the temperament required in team formats, where rhythm and recovery are equally vital.
Junior and Youth Teams Extend the Gold Rush
India’s supremacy extended to the junior and youth mixed team competitions.
Himanshu Dhillon and Shambhavi Kshirsagar, both individual gold medallists earlier in the week, added another title to their names in the junior mixed team event. The duo produced a commanding performance, registering a combined score of 502.4 a massive 13.8 points ahead of Kazakhstan’s Alina Satpayeva and Tamerlan Kabulov. Maldives’ Eeasha Shaheed and Maaidh Mohamed secured bronze, but the margin underlined India’s depth at the junior level.
In the youth category, Hrudya Shri Kondur and Anshul Batra faced a sterner challenge from Indonesia’s Dominique Rachmawati Karini and Anang Febrian. However, the Indian pair maintained composure under pressure to post 498.4 and clinch gold. Indonesia settled for silver, while the Kyrgyz Republic’s Zhibek Bektashova and Abdurazzak Muratov claimed bronze.
The clean sweep of mixed team golds across senior, junior and youth divisions highlighted the robust pipeline of talent within Indian shooting.
Gurpreet Leads Pistol Podium Sweep
The rifle golds were complemented by a dominant showing in the 25m Standard Pistol Men’s event. Rio 2016 Olympian Gurpreet Singh delivered a composed and technically sound performance to win gold with a score of 575-16x. Harsh Gupta secured silver with 571-14x, while Amanpreet Singh completed an all-Indian podium with bronze at 569-11x.
India also won team gold in the senior category, finishing ahead of Vietnam (silver) and Kazakhstan (bronze).
The junior men’s 25m Standard Pistol event mirrored the senior success. Suraj Sharma led the charge with gold at 576-13x, followed by Mukesh Nelavalli (559-8x) and Tanishq Muralidhar Naidu (557-10x), sealing another clean sweep for the hosts. The junior team gold added further weight to India’s medal haul.
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The results reflected both technical superiority and sustained concentration across stages critical attributes in precision pistol disciplines.
25m Pistol Women: Esha Leads After Precision Stage
In the 25m Pistol Women’s event, the precision stage concluded with Esha Singh at the top of the leaderboard with 295. Manu Bhaker followed closely with 291, keeping India in strong contention ahead of the rapid-fire stage and finals scheduled for tomorrow. Rhythm Sangwan currently sits in 13th place with 285.
With the rapid-fire segment still to come, India remains well placed to extend its medal dominance in yet another discipline.
Crossing the 50-medal mark at a continental championship underscores the scale of India’s dominance in New Delhi. Beyond the medal count, what stands out is the spread of success from Olympians to juniors and youth shooters across rifle and pistol events alike.
The conversion rate in finals, particularly in mixed team events, has been striking. The synergy between experienced campaigners like Elavenil and Arjun, combined with the rise of emerging names such as Shambhavi, Himanshu, and Hrudya, reflects a system that is functioning cohesively across levels.
As the championship moves into its concluding stages, India’s shooters continue to set the benchmark in Asia, blending technical precision with competitive maturity.
With more finals ahead, the question is no longer whether India will top the medal table but by how large a margin.
