Shymkent, Aug 23: Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan clinched the gold medal in women's 10m air rifle event at the 16th Asian Shooting Championships held in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

The 26-year-old from Tamil Nadu shot a score of 253.6 to finish on top in the final and claim her second gold in the continental showpiece.

This marks Valarivan’s first individual medal at the ongoing championship, adding to her earlier silver and bronze in team events.

China’s Xinlu Peng secured silver with 253 points, while Korea’s Eunji Kwon took bronze with 231.2.

Valarivan, who trained under Olympic medallist Gagan Narang, previously won gold at the 2019 edition in Taiwan. Her latest triumph reaffirms her status as one of India’s most consistent rifle shooters, currently ranked 11th globally and poised to re-enter the top 10.

India’s Mehuli Ghosh finished fourth, while Arya Borse and Sonam Maskar stepped aside to allow Valarivan and Ghosh to compete for medals.

Valarivan had qualified for the final in eighth place with 630.7, while Ghosh originally ended 10th with 630.3 but advanced after higher-placed compatriots Arya Borse (633.2) and Sonam Maskar (630.5) stepped aside as they were competing only for ranking points. Valarivan’s gold was only the second senior individual title for India at the continental event, where the country continues to dominate the medals tally largely through its junior shooters.