India Sweeps Air Rifle Mixed Team Gold Medals at Asian Shooting Championship

Shymkent, Kazakhstan – India delivered a dominant performance at the 16th Asian Shooting Championship on Saturday, achieving a clean sweep of the air rifle mixed team gold medals, winning all three events contested across the senior, junior, and youth categories.

Senior Team Gold: Valarivan and Babuta Victorious

In the senior mixed team event, the pairing of Elavenil Valarivan—who had already won the individual women’s gold—and Arjun Babuta continued India’s stellar run. The duo topped the qualification round with an impressive score of 634.0 before confidently defeating the Chinese pair of Peng Xinlu and Lu Dingke 17-11 in the gold medal match.

A second Indian pair, Mehuli Ghosh and Rudrankksh Patil, recorded the second-best qualification score of 632.6, but was ineligible to compete for a medal due to tournament rules.

Junior and Youth Teams Add to Golden Haul

Indian excellence was on full display across the lower age groups:

• Juniors: Shambhavi Kshirsagar and Naraen Pranav secured the gold medal, prevailing 16-12 over their Chinese opponents in the final, despite having qualified third.
• Youth: Ameerah Arshad and Ansh Dabas topped the qualification round with a score of 629.4 before defeating the Korean pair 16-12 to win the gold medal.

In both the junior and youth sections, second Indian teams recorded high scores but were prevented from competing for medals due to being ineligible, underscoring India’s depth in talent.

India Tops the Medals Table

The three mixed team golds significantly boosted India’s standing, placing the country firmly atop the overall medals table.