Elavenil remained in contention for the gold medal for most of the individual final. She finished with 252.4 points, just 0.6 points behind Japan’s Hinata Taichi. Taichi won the gold with 253.0 points and also set a new Asian Games record.
The performances have also brought attention to the specialised equipment used by elite shooters. A 10-metre air rifle is not an ordinary air gun. According to reports, the .177-calibre 10-metre air rifles used in international competitions such as the Olympics and Asian Games cost around Rs 1.75 lakh to Rs 4.50 lakh in India.
The price of a rifle depends on its brand and the type of trigger used. Both mechanical (M) and electronic (E) trigger options are available. The equipment used by Indian shooters to fire accurately at targets from a distance of 10 metres and compete for medals therefore costs lakhs of rupees.
India has now won five medals in the 10-metre air rifle events. Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidharsa Vinod won silver in the women’s team event, while Elavenil also secured silver in the individual event.
In the men’s team event, Rudraksh Patil, Parth Mane and Himanshu Dhillon won silver medals. Himanshu Dhillon also won silver in the men’s individual event, while Rudraksh Patil claimed bronze in the men’s 10-metre air rifle event.
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