India began their Asian Games 2026 campaign on September 20 on a strong note. They assured two medals in MMA and women’s cricket. However, the biggest moment came in shooting, as India secured two silver medals. Elavenil Valarivan was the star of the show as she was part of both these medal wins – clinching silvers in the women’s 10m air rifle individual and team events. This was a massive upgrade from her performance in the Paris Olympics 2024, where she failed to qualify for the finals of both her events.
On a defining opening day for the sporting contingent at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, 27-year-old markswoman Elavenil Valarivan anchored the nation’s shooting campaign by claiming two silver medals in the 10m air rifle events. Far removed from the crushing weight of her recent Paris Olympics outing, a visibly recharged Valarivan demonstrated both technical precision and a profound mental reset, navigating a gruelling competition day to twice stand on the continental podium.
Responding to a question from HT Digital, Elavenil Valarivan shed light on the psychological overhaul that bridged the gap between the disappointment in Paris and her resurgence on the Asian Games podium in Aichi-Nagoya. She said that the intense stress of the Olympics made her care too much about the final score. Now, she has changed her approach to focus on enjoying the game and staying in the present.
“I think Paris it was more about me getting, being the best of myself, winning the day and, you know, competing. But now it is more about just being happy that I get to play the sport, enjoying every single moment that I get on lane, competing with my co-shooters. So I think it is more about being in the present moment and enjoying the sport and loving the sport, and that it’s giving me so many opportunities to be a part of the Indian team and represent the country. So I think that has been one of the major shifts in my approach towards a competition or towards a training day,” the Asian Games 2026 double silver medallist said.
The disappointment at Paris Olympics 2024
Elavenil Valarivan had a campaign to forget at the Paris Olympics. She missed out on qualifying for the final of both her events. In the women’s 10m air rifle individual qualifiers, she scored 630.7 to finish 10th. She thus narrowly missed out on a top-8 spot, which was the cut-off to qualify for the finals.
Her mixed team event qualifiers with Sandeep Singh ended even more poorly. The pair scored a combined 626.3 to finish 12th in the qualifiers. This fell way behind the top-four cut-off required to qualify for the finals.
The redemption at Asian Games 2026
Elavenil Valarivan first joined forces with her teammates Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod to secure a silver medal in the women’s 10m air pistol event.
Returning to the firing line for the individual final hours later, the shooter from Tamil Nadu produced a commanding performance, leading the pack for 21 of the 24 shots in the elimination phase.
Despite a late surge from Japan’s Hinata in the final three shots that saw the host nation sneak up to claim the gold by a razor-thin 0.6-point margin, Elavenil Valarivan’s composure remained intact. She thus became the first shooter since her mentor, Gagan Narang, in 2010 to win two silver medals in the 10m air rifle event at the Asian Games.
