Elavenil shoots 2 golds at 18th KSS Memorial Championship

Junior shooting World Cup gold medallist Elavenil Valarivan from Gujarat proved too hot to handle for her opponents as she bettered Ruozhu Zhaos world record of 252.4 to clinched the gold medal in the both 10M Air Rifle Senior and Junior categories at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, here on Tuesday.

While Elavenil shot 253 and bettered the Chinese's record, the feat won't go down in the history books as International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), the world governing body for the sport, only considers tournaments held at a world or continental level.

India's teen prodigy Mehuli Ghosh could only finish with 251.7 and had to eventually settle for silver while another shooter from the GFG stable, Manini Kaushik from Rajasthan, bagged the bronze with 230.9 in the senior category.

Elavenil shone in the Junior category as well with a score of 252.3 to annex her second gold. West Bengal's Mehuli stayed on track to continue her medal rush as she bagged the silver with 251.1 whereas Shreya Agarwal from Madhya Pradesh too continued her medal rush, claiming a spot on the podium with a score of 229.7.

In the youth category, Yana Rathore of Madhya Pradesh bagged the gold with 249.6 while Himachal Pradesh's Zeena Khitta grabbed the second spot with 248.5. Haryana's Nischal Singh languished behind with 225.1 but still managed to take the third spot.

The selection trial 5 was held simultaneously with the KSS Memorial Shooting Championship which saw Elavenil top the charts with a qualification score of 632.2 while Mehuli scored 629.7 and Manini took the third spot with 629.1.

These points will be considered while the Asian Games and World Championships selections take place.

--IANS

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