India’s shooter Elavenil Valarivan won the silver medal in the women’s 10m air rifle individual event at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. She scored 252.4 points in the final, finishing 0.6 points behind gold medallist Hinata Taichi of Japan, who scored 253.0 points. South Korea’s Hyojin Ban finished third with 230.4 points.
Elavenil remained at the top for a long period in the final after making a b start. However, Japan’s Hinata Taichi moved ahead in the final stage, overtaking her with a comeback in the last three shots.
Final standings in the individual event
Hinata Taichi secured the gold medal with 253.0 points, while Elavenil Valarivan finished with 252.4 points. The difference between the two shooters was 0.6 points. Hyojin Ban of South Korea won the bronze medal with 230.4 points.
Taichi’s score of 253.0 also set an Asian Games record in the event.
For Elavenil, this was her second silver medal at the Asian Games. Earlier, she had won silver for India in the women’s 10m air rifle team event alongside Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa K. Vinod. India has therefore won both of its medals in the opening phase of the competition through shooting.
India’s silver medal in the team event
India’s first medal in the shooting competition came in the women’s 10m air rifle team event. The Indian trio of Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa K. Vinod finished second with a combined score of 1898.0 points.
China won the gold medal with 1904.2 points and set a world record in the process. Host Japan finished third with 1897.1 points. The difference between India and Japan was 0.9 points.
Sonam Maskar was India’s top scorer in the team event, recording 634.1 points in qualification. Elavenil scored 633.5 points, while Vidarsa recorded 630.4 points. Following these performances, both Elavenil and Sonam qualified for the individual final.
Sonam Maskar also qualified for the final
Sonam Maskar also reached the individual 10m air rifle final alongside Elavenil Valarivan. After their performance in the team event, both Indian shooters qualified for the individual final.
Elavenil ultimately secured the silver medal, adding another medal to India’s tally. With her two silver medals, the Indian shooting team has secured both of the country’s medals at the opening stage of the competition.
