Asian Shooting: Elavenil Valarivan, Arjun Babuta’s World Record show

NEW DELHI: Elavenil Valarivan said she is enjoying her sport at the moment and it showed in her performance at the Asian Rifle and Pistol Championship on Sunday, where she along with Arjun Babuta won the 10m air rifle mixed team gold for India. It was her third top-place finish in the event. India won with a total 505, a world record score, ahead of South Korea’s Eunji Kwon and Kim Woorim (501). The Japanese pair of Misaki Nobata and Naoya Okada took the bronze (437.1).

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The 26-year-old Elavenil attributed her positive mindset to the experience she gained at the Paris Olympics, even though she finished 10th there and did not qualify for the final. Her consistency with high scores was on display in the 10m air rifle individual event at the Karni Singh Ranges a day earlier too, when she secured gold with more points than what the Paris gold medallist Hyo-jin Ban scored in the final in 2024.




When asked whether the transformation was the outcome of any change in her game, the world No. 5 said: “There’s nothing specific, but Paris was a great learning experience for me. I feel that post-Paris was when something changed in my sporting life. I’m enjoying the sport right now and it’s showing in the results. I’m just enjoying being here, being part of the team, and giving my absolute best.”

Elavenil said she enjoyed her game with Babuta. The two were defending champions and this was the third straight time they played as a mixed team. “When I joined the team, Arjun was already there and winning medals. I remember having conversations with him about his performances. Over the years, that bond has grown. He was absolutely the best in the second series of shooting in the final. I was glad that he was able to peak when I was stumbling a bit. We were complimenting each other very well,” she said.

World No. 7 Babuta, on his part, would be hoping to return better from a break after taking the positives from the tournament. “I learned more about my muscle feel and body position. I’ll implement these learnings in training, and they should help in upcoming trials. That’s the key technical takeaway.”

Babuta had said last week that he was planning to take a break after the Asian Championship because of too much shooting. “I need to work on recovery a little bit more because I’m continuously playing for the last few months. I will take a break for two weeks. It will help me get back to higher scores consistently,” he had said after winning the men’s 10m air rifle silver.

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