Two-time Olympian and Asian champion Elavenil Valarivan delivered an impressive performance in the women’s 10m air rifle final to clinch bronze at the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Championships 2025 in Cairo, Egypt.
This is a significant achievement for the 26-year-old Indian shooter as it marked her first medal at the World Championships. With this, Elavenil became only the third Indian to win a World Championships medal in women’s 10m air rifle after Anjum Moudgil (2018) and Mehuli Ghosh (2023).
Elavenil maintained her composure and shot brilliantly throughout both the qualification and final rounds. She qualified for the final with an impressive score of 633.4 in a high-scoring qualification round, finishing fifth. The cut-off was 633, which saw Meghana Sajjanar miss out on the finals despite a strong 631.2, while another Indian, Shreya Agrawal, shot 628.7.
Elavenil was in fine form and looked poised for an even higher finish in her first-ever World Championships final appearance as she led till the 18th shot with 191.1. At a crucial juncture, she shot 10.0 during her 19th attempt, slipping to third from the top spot and failing to recover. A poor 9.9 in the 22nd round ended her race for gold, but her medal was secured as she finished with a score of 232.0 to claim the bronze.
South Korea’s Olympic champion Ban Hyojin secured gold with a superb 255.0, while China’s Wang Zifei claimed silver with 254.0.
The women’s 10m air rifle team comprising Elavenil Valarivan, Meghana Sajjanar, and Shreya Agrawal also secured a team bronze with a combined score of 1893.3, finishing behind China (1901.7) and South Korea (1899.9).
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