Did Elavenil Valarivan Set a New Record and Secure Bronze for India in Munich?

New Delhi, June 10 (NationPress) Elavenil Valarivan, a two-time Olympian and one of India's most distinguished female air rifle shooters, elevated her performance at the prestigious Olympic Shooting range in Munich by securing a bronze medal on the opening day of the third ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) for the year. Ela concluded her final after the 22nd shot out of 24, achieving a score of 232.1, which placed her third behind gold medalist Wang Zifei (252.7) from China and silver medalist Eunji Kwon (252.6) from Korea.

Earlier in the day, she also established a new national qualification record, finishing second with an impressive score of 635.9, averaging nearly 10.6 per shot across 60 shots.

However, Wang, who has now completed a hat-trick of World Cup victories this year, surpassed her with a world record (and junior world record) qualification score of 637.9, taking the lead. The previous record of 636.9 was set by Germany’s Anna Janssen at the New Delhi World Cup Finals last year.

With both the reigning Olympic champion, Ban Hyojin of Korea, and the World Champion, Han Jiayu of China, qualifying for the top-eight final, it was anticipated to be an electrifying final, and it certainly delivered.

The margin among the top five shooters after the initial five-shot series was a mere 0.6, shrinking to just 0.1 between the first four after the second series. Following the 20th shot, when Norwegian rifle prodigy Jeanette Hegg Duestad was eliminated in fourth, Ela, who was leading at that moment, was just 0.6 ahead.

After a consistent performance hitting no score below 10.1, Ela's 21st shot yielded a 9.8, which ultimately cost her the gold, as she fell 0.2 points shy of Kwon after 22 shots, despite finishing strongly with a high score of 10.6.

The only competitor in the final who was not an Olympian was Turkiye’s Elif Altun, who exited after the 12th shot.

Ela's final scores were as follows: 10.7, 10.4, 10.8, 10.3, 10.7; 10.4, 10.9, 10.8, 10.3, 10.5; 10.8; 10.6; 10.5; 10.1; 10.4; 10.1; 10.7; 10.8; 10.3; 10.7; 9.8; and 10.6.

Other Indian participants included:

Women’s 10m Air Rifle: Ananya Naidu- 632.4 (13th on debut); Arya Borse- 628.2 (50th).

Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions (Eliminations): Chain Singh-591; Swapnil Kusale- 585; Kiran Ankush Jadhav- 580 (all three progressed to qualifications).

Top eight qualify after Qualification on Wednesday (Final on the same day):

Women’s 25m Pistol (Day 1 of Qualification- Precision stage): Esha Singh - 98,99,97=294 (4th); Manu Bhaker - 97,98,95=290 (12th); Simranpreet Kaur Brar - 95,97,96=288 (19th).

Top eight to qualify after Day 2 Rapid-Fire stage on Wednesday (Final on the same day):

Men’s 10m Air Pistol: Nishant Rawat - 582 (fifth in Qualification relay 1); Aditya Malra - 578 (18th in qualification relay 1); Varun Tomar - Scheduled to shoot in Qualification relay 2.