Elavenil Valarivan, Parth Mane miss podium after late charge falls short in 10m air rifle mixed event

Nagoya: The smiles on Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane’s faces as they left the qualification arena for the 10m air rifle mixed event made way for agony after the first five shots of the final at the Aichi Prefectural Shooting Range.On Tuesday, from bettering the Games record and finishing second in the qualifiers to ending fourth, well short of the podium, the result came down to consistency, or the lack of it.Asian Games Full Coverage | Schedule | Medal TallyThe shooters, who won silver medals over the past two days, were on point in the qualifiers with 634.6, behind China (638.9). Both teams bettered the Games qualification record, which stood at 634.4.In the final, Japan took the last spot after Vietnam were disqualified because their competition suits failed to meet international standards.After the first five shots, India were last with 103.6, 0.3 behind the hosts. They played catch-up, by which time Korea, who finished third, had taken a two-point lead.Elavenil and Mane made a late charge but failed to bridge the gap, finishing with 376.3. China took the gold with a world record of 507.1, while Korea and Japan settled for silver and bronze.The rifle team’s coach, Pooja Ghatkar, pinned the performance on inconsistency.“Elavenil did well in the qualification. But both shooters were not able to settle into their positions in the final and their shots were all over the place,” she said.She also felt the timeout strategy misfired.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.