Asian Airgun Championship: Ravi Kumar-Elavenil Valarivan clinch 10m air rifle mixed team event; India 1-2 in junior event

New Delhi: Indian shooters on Thursday clinched one gold and two silver on the second day of competitions to remain on top of the standings in the 12th Asian Airgun Championships in Taoyuan, Taipei. Ravi Kumar and Elavenil Valarivan won a silver in the senior 10m air rifle mixed team event while India made it a 1-2 in the corresponding junior event on yet another profitable day. [caption id=“attachment_3460638” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of 10-meter air rifle shooter Ravi Kumar.[/caption] Ravi and Elavenil topped the qualification rounds with a score of 837.1 but were beaten in the five-team final by the Korean pair of Park Sunmin and Shin Minki. The Koreans won the gold with a score of 499.6 to the Indians’ 498.4. Chinese Taipei won the bronze. A second Indian team consisting of Deepak Kumar and Apurvi Chandela finished fourth. In the junior 10m air rifle mixed team event, two Indian teams made it to the final round. The pair of Mehuli Ghosh and Keval Prajapati topped the qualification round with a score of 838.5, while Shreya Agrawal and Yash Vardhan qualified in second position with 831.2. Shreya and Yash, however, turned the tables on their compatriots in the final, piping them by a margin of 0.4 points. Mehuli and Keval led throughout the final and they opened up a gap of 1.6 points over Shreya and Yash going into the final six shots. But, the pair of Shreya and Yash overturned the deficit, finishing with 497.3 to Mehuli and Keval’s 496.9. Korea won the bronze in the event. On Wednesday, Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker had won the gold in the senior 10m air pistol mixed team event while Vijayveer Sidhu and Esha Singh clinched the yellow metal in the corresponding junior event for a double gold start for India. With five medals in its kitty, India are on top of the standings and would look forward to day three of the championships on Friday.