What achievements did Elavenil Valarivan accomplish at the Asian Games 2026?

Elavenil Valarivan secured two silver medals at the Asian Games 2026, one in the women's 10m air rifle individual event and another as part of the team event alongside Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod.

How did Elavenil Valarivan improve her performance after the Paris Olympics 2024?

Elavenil Valarivan shifted her focus from the final score to enjoying the sport and staying in the present, which significantly contributed to her success at the Asian Games 2026.

Why did Elavenil Valarivan's performance falter at the Paris Olympics 2024?

Elavenil struggled at the Paris Olympics due to the intense pressure and stress of the competition, resulting in her failing to qualify for the finals in both of her events.

Rudrankksh Patil, Himanshu Dhillon, and Parth Mane win silver, India's shooting medal tally rises to 3 at Asian Games

Asian Games 2026: Himanshu Dhillon, Parth Mane, and Rudrankksh Patil won silver in the 10m Air Rifle Men’s Team event.

Updated on: Sep 21, 2026, 09:13:02 IST

Written by Vishesh Roy

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

India's medal tally continues to rise at the Asian Games 2026 as the shooting contingent refuses to slow down. Early Monday morning, the country won its third medal in the competition, thanks to tremendous showings by Himanshu Dhillon, Parth Mane, and Rudrankksh Patil in the 10m Air Rifle Men’s Team event at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery. The trio aggregated 1890.1 points, only to finish behind China’s Sheng Lihao, Ma Sihan and Zhang Changhong, who totalled 1899.0, which is the qualification world record.

India increase medal tally to three at the Asian Games 2026 edition. (X)

Rudrankksh and Dhillon also qualified for the Individual Final. The two shooters will be in action later in the day. In the qualification round, Rudrankkash finished third with a score of 631.8, while Dhillon (630) and Mane (628.3) took the seventh and eleventh spots, respectively.

Also Read: Asian Games 2026 Day 3 LIVE: Check live coverage and updates here

Deep Dive

Ask HT

Lihao was the leading performer with 635.4 points, also an Asian qualification record. Sihan came second while Changhong was fifth, finishing inside the top eight, although the latter failed to make the cut for the individual final because only two shooters from the same country could appear in the final.

All you need to know about Rudrankksh and Dhillon

Rudrankksh first came to the limelight after winning the gold in the Men's 10m Air Rifle at the 2022 ISSF World Championships in Cairo. He was the only Indian after Abhinav Bindra to win the individual world title in the event. Over the years, he has represented India at the ISSF World Championships, ISSF World Cups, Asian Championships, Asian Games, and the Paris 2024 Olympics.

He was also ranked World No. 1 in the Men's 10m Air Rifle event following his breakthrough performance in 2022.

On the other hand, Dhillon has represented India in the Men's 10m Air Rifle and Mixed Team 10m Air Rifle events at the ISSF Junior World Cups, Asian Championships, and ISSF World Cup competitions. His breakthrough performance came in 2025 when he won two golds and one bronze at the ISSF Junior World Cup.

Rudrankksh then made his senior ISSF World Cup debut in Munich 2026, where he finished ninth in the 10m Air Rifle Men event.

Shooting performance so far at the Asian Games

India opened their medal tally at the Asian Games on Sunday, with two silver medals in shooting. Elavenil Valarivan won silver in the women's 10m air rifle event after finishing with a total of 252.4, only behind Japan's Hinata Taichi, who set a new Games Record of 253 to finish first and clinch gold. Korea’s Ban Hyojin (230.4) came third to win bronze.

For the majority of the contest, Elavenil was leading the pack, but Taichi went past her with the 22nd shot. Earlier in the day, India had also clinched a silver in the women's team event with a total of 1898, behind gold medallist China (1904.2).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vishesh Roy
Vishesh Roy is a sports journalist with a strong focus on cricket. He began his career at Asian News International (ANI), where he covered a range of high-profile events, including the India Open, Legends Cricket League, the England–India Test series in Ahmedabad in 2021, and the inauguration of the Narendra Modi Stadium. During his tenure at ANI, he also reported extensively on domestic cricket, covering several Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy matches across the country. While cricket remains his primary beat, Vishesh has also reported on tennis, football and WWE. After a stint of over three years at ANI, Vishesh moved to NDTV, where he gained hands-on experience in digital-first journalism, with a particular emphasis on live blogs and real-time news reporting. He joined Hindustan Times in October 2024 and quickly established himself with a series of exclusive interviews and source-driven stories. Ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, Hindustan Times was the first to report that the two-day event would be held in Saudi Arabia. In the early months of his tenure, Vishesh secured interviews with leading cricketers, including Pat Cummins, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rashid Latif. He has also closely tracked the rise of emerging talents such as Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Priyansh Arya by speaking to their current and childhood coaches. His background in on-field reporting has helped Hindustan Times Digital break exclusive stories on major developments, including Virat Kohli’s return to the Ranji and Vijay Hazare Trophy, IPL scheduling, and the T20 World Cup controversy involving Bangladesh and Pakistan.Read More

Stay updated with the latest sports news, including latest headlines and updates from the Olympics 2024, where Indian athletes will compete for glory in Paris. Catch all the action from tennis Grand Slam tournaments, follow your favourite football teams and players with the latest match results, and get the latest on international hockey tournaments and series.