Two-time Olympian Elavenil Valarivan delivered an impressive performance at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Munich, clinching the bronze medal in the women’s 10m air rifle event on Tuesday.
Returning to the venue where she narrowly missed the podium in 2018 with a fourth-place finish, the 25-year-old made a strong comeback, this time securing India’s first medal of the rifle and pistol competition.
Elavenil shot a brilliant 635.9 in the qualification round, finishing second and breaking the previous national record of 634.7 set by Nancy in Bhopal last year. While Ramita Jindal has recorded a higher score of 636.4 during the Paris Olympic trials, that particular event isn’t recognized for official national record purposes.
In the final, Elavenil stayed in contention for gold for most of the match, but a 9.8 on her second-last shot pushed her down to third place with a total of 231.2 points.
It may not have been gold, but Elavenil’s record-breaking effort and podium finish marked a proud moment for Indian shooting on the global stage.
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