India Leads Asian Rifle and Pistol Championship

Indian shooters extended their commanding lead at the Asian Rifle and Pistol Championship 2026, securing multiple gold medals in mixed team events on Sunday at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi. Olympians Elavenil Valarivan and Arjun Babuta won the senior 10m air rifle mixed team title, while juniors Himanshu Dhillon and Shambhavi Kshirsagar claimed gold in their category, contributing to India's overall tally surpassing 50 medals.

Valarivan and Babuta delivered a strong performance in the four-team final, combining for a score of 505.0 to finish 4.0 points ahead of South Korea's Eunji Kwon and Kim Woorim, who took silver with 501.0. Japan's Misaki Nobata and Naoya Okada earned bronze at 437.1. The Indian pair had topped the qualification round with 632.8. Valarivan, who won gold in the women's individual 10m air rifle the previous day, scored 253.4 from 24 shots, while Babuta added 251.6 after an initial unsteady start.

In the junior 10m air rifle mixed team event, Dhillon and Kshirsagar posted 502.4, an Asian junior record, to win by 13.8 points over Kazakhstan's Alina Satpayeva and Tamerlan Kabulov, who scored 488.6 for silver. The Maldives' Eeasha Shaheed and...