Elavenil Valarivan continues golden run in Suhl

Elavenil Valarivan had won the gold medal in Sydney edging out Wang and Monday’s bronze medallist 19-year-old Ying Shing Lin of Chinese Taipei.

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Elavenil Valarivan bagged gold in 10m Air Rilfe at the junior World Cup. (SOurce: File photo)

As the women’s 10m Air Rifle final at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, entered the medal elimination round, 18-year-old Elavenil Valarivan was leading China’s Zeru Wang by just 0.1 point. But Valarivan, who had won the gold medal at the Junior World Cup in Sydney in March, sealed the deal with three scores of 10.5 or more in her last four shots.

The Ahmedabad shooter had won the gold medal in Sydney edging out Wang and Monday’s bronze medallist 19-year-old Ying Shing Lin of Chinese Taipei. The latter became world champion at the ISSF Munich World Cup apart from claiming a silver medal at the Changwon World Cup while Wang became world champion in 50M Rifle 3 Positions in Changwon. Hence, it was a final to remember for Elavenil.

“I did not know before the final that Lin had become the senior world champion in Munich. When I shoot, my focus is on my scores and I am happy I could win the gold medal here. I was leading through the final and knew I only had to compete against myself. One of the things I have spent a lot of time on is maintaining stability in the position and extending my physical workouts to control my swaying tendency. My brother, who is in the Army keeps sending me his training videos and it is like a competition between the two of us,” Elavenil told The Indian Express from Suhl.

On Monday, the youngster shot 10 shots of 10.8 or more, including two of 10.9 in the final. Earlier, the shooter had shot a score of 630.5 in the qualification round, where compatriot Mehuli Ghosh shot 630.3 to be second in the qualification. National rifle coach Deepak Dubey, who was with the shooters during the competition, believes the gold medal will help Elavenil for the challenges ahead. “When she shot the sore of 632.8 in the selection trials, it came in temperature ranging from 44-46 degrees. Last evening, the temperature here in Suhl was 8-10 degrees. And today it was around 12-14 degrees. Adjusting to such conditions at the junior level will help her shooting”.

Nitin Sharma

Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a two-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022 and 2023 respectively. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More