Elavenil Valarivan clinches gold at invitational shooting meet
The top-ranked rifle shooter in the world, Elavenil Valarivan scored 627.5 for gold in the online competition while Shahu Tushar Mane took silver in the men’s event.
The world number one among women in 10m Air Rifle and one of India’s brightest young prospects Elavenil Valarivan resumed her post-lockdown season with a win at the Sheikh Russel International Air Rifle Championship on Sunday.
Competing in the online event, the 21-year-old Elavenil scored a modest 627.5 for the gold medal. Japan’s Shiori Hirata clinched the silver with 622.6 while Vidya Toyyiba of Indonesia bagged bronze with 621.1.
Among men, Rio Olympian Naoya Okada of Japan won the top prize with 623.9, while India’s Shahu Tushar Mane took the silver with a score of 623.8. Baki Abdullah Hel of Bangladesh had to be content with a bronze medal after his effort of 617.3.
Organised by the Bangladesh Shooting Sport Federation (BSSF), the 60-shots competition was hosted to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sheikh Russel — the youngest son of Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and brother of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Six nations participated in the online event. The teams included Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Bhutan and India, alongside hosts Bangladesh.
Each nation also had an International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) jury member to observe the competition.
Meanwhile, back home, the shooters who are part of the Olympic core group in New Delhi for the national camp are due to hit the range in the coming days after completing a mandatory seven-day quarantine period.
Elavenil Valarivan, a part of the Olympic core group, however, has been excused from the national camp owing to her academic commitments.
Shahu Tushar Mane, a silver medallist at the 2018 Youth Olympics, hasn’t been included in the Olympic core group.