Record-breaking shooter Elavenil in happy space

ELAVENIL Valarivan has a penchant for breaking records.

- ANMOL GURUNG @ Chennai

ELAVENIL Valarivan has a penchant for breaking records. Ever since her days as a junior shooter, she has been one of the certified talents from the country who has repeatedly raised the bar.

The 25-year-old was in her happy space on Tuesday, flirting with the women's 10m air rifle qualification world record before settling for the national record instead at the ISSF World Cup in Munich.

In a field that boasted Olympic champs and world beaters, the double Olympian returned with a remarkable 635.9, shattering the previous high of 634.7 which was posted by Nancy.

Elavenil, a shooter with TN roots, displayed remarkable precision before going on to etch the record mark in the qualification.

In the highly-competitive final, she was equally productive and at one stage, seemed like she would go on to pocket the gold medal.

However, one mistake during her 21st shot proved to be her undoing.

A 9.8 score (her first shot below 10.1) demoted her to bronze medal instead.