With this win, Punjab’s Babuta, 26, and Tamil Nadu’s Elavenil each completed a double gold haul at the prestigious tournament. Elavenil had earlier won the women’s individual 10m air rifle title, while Babuta was part of the Indian men’s team, along with Rudrankksh Patil and Kiran Jadhav, that topped the podium in the men’s team 10m air rifle event
Arjun Babuta-Elavenil Valarivan pair (Pic: @OfficialNRAI/X)
India's shooting contingent continued its stellar run at the 16th Asian Shooting Championship, securing two gold medals in the 10m air rifle mixed team and junior mixed team events on Saturday.
In a thrilling final, the Indian duo of Arjun Babuta and Elavenil Valarivan outclassed China’s Dingke Lu and Xinlu Peng with a 17-11 victory to clinch gold in the senior mixed team event. The Chinese pair had the early momentum, leading the match in the opening rounds. However, the Indians displayed remarkable composure and resilience, bouncing back strongly despite a shaky start that included scores of 9.5 and 10.1.
GOLD ‼️ 🔔 🚨 The gold rush continues as Ela @elavalarivan & Arjun @arjunbabuta nail the 10m air rifle mixed team 🥇 with a 17-11 win over Peng & Lu or 🇨🇳. 21 golds & counting! Second for Ela at Shymkent. Congratulations! 🔥💥🎊🎉🇮🇳#AsianShootingChampionship #MixedTeam #Rifle pic.twitter.com/8tIjIEjm1e
— NRAI (@OfficialNRAI) August 23, 2025
With this win, Punjab’s Babuta, 26, and Tamil Nadu’s Elavenil each completed a double gold haul at the prestigious tournament. Elavenil had earlier won the women’s individual 10m air rifle title, while Babuta was part of the Indian men’s team, along with Rudrankksh Patil and Kiran Jadhav, that topped the podium in the men’s team 10m air rifle event.
Meanwhile, in the junior mixed team category, India’s Shambhavi Shravan and Naraen Pranav clinched gold with a strong 16-12 win over China. The Indian pair trailed early in the qualification round but surged ahead in the finals with a dominant display.
Despite finishing third in the qualification round with a combined score of 629.5, behind China 2 (632.3) and China 1 (630), the Indian team qualified for the final due to the rule permitting only one team per country in the medal round. China 2, represented by Tang Huiqi and Han Yinan, advanced to the final, where they were eventually outshot by the Indian pair.
Shambhavi impressed with consistent series of 105.4, 105.2, and 104.4, while Pranav overcame a slow start (103.7) to deliver 105.7 and 105.1 in subsequent rounds.
Another Indian team in contention, Isha Taksale and Himanshu, narrowly missed out on a podium finish, ending fourth in the qualification round with a score of 628.6.
The gold marks Shambhavi’s second of the tournament, following her win in the junior women’s team 10m air rifle event alongside Hrudya Shri Kondur and Isha Anil, where the Indian trio set a junior world record score of 1896.2 on Friday.
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