Elavenil springs to life by winning medals

‘Looking forward to doing well in the junior World Cup and Masters’

July 09, 2019 09:27 pm | Updated 09:27 pm IST - NEW DELHI

Elavenil

Elavenil

Elavenil in Tamil means Spring season. In Indian shooting, the young Elavenil Valarivan springs to life in international competitions by winning medals, hinting a bright career.

The 20-year-old won the air rifle women’s silver and the team bronze with Aayushi Gupta and Nina Chandel in the ongoing 30th Universiade at Napoli, Italy.

It was no surprise as Elavenil had already won three golds in Junior World Cups apart from the women’s gold in the Asian Air Gun Championship. She had also claimed the junior silver in the World Championship.

“I missed the gold by committing silly mistakes. I am never satisfied with silver,” she told The Hindu from Italy after missing qualification for mixed air rifle despite shooting the best among all.

“It was kind of chill and friendly atmosphere. I had known many of them from the previous match. So, it was really a good experience competing with the students around the world.

“I really feel great because I think I am the youngest in the Indian shooting team,” said Elavenil.

Hailing from Tamil Nadu but studying B.A. English Literature at the Bhavans Arts College under Gujarat University in Ahmedabad, Elavenil praised the College Principal Neerja Gupta.

Support

“My Principal is very supportive and even arranges extra lectures and notes for me whenever I am in Ahmedabad,” Elavenil said.

A trainee of Olympic and World Championship medallist Gagan Narang’s Project Leap, Elavenil is happy to train at the new branch of Gun For Glory in Chennai.

“I am recovering from a knee injury and undergoing rehabilitation at the Centre of Sports Science in Sri Ramachandra Medical College, Chennai.

“It suits me to train there even though my family is in Gujarat. I like the facilities in Chennai,” she said.

Having been coached by Neha Chavan and trained by mind trainer Kritika Pandey right from the time she picked up a rifle, Elavenil is happy to continue with the duo in the new project.

Versatile

She was a versatile athlete and was introduced to shooting by a friend, who was happy to let her use a spare gun.

“I was in athletics before shooting. I have played almost every sport except cricket, football and volleyball. I was in my school teams for basketball, handball, kabaddi and shot put. My main focus was sprints. I played for State and was selected for Nationals, but didn’t continue,” she recalled.

Thanks to her ability to shoot absolutely world class scores that can fetch a medal on any stage in the international arena, Elavenil has opted to stick to shooting.

“I am looking forward to doing well in the Junior World Cup in Suhl and then the Masters in Delhi.”

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