India’s 10m air rifle mixed team of Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane entered Tuesday’s final at the 2026 Asian Games with real gold medal ambitions. They left with fourth place and a difficult question: what went wrong?
## A Strong Start in Qualification
The Indian pair topped the field behind only China in qualification, shooting 634.6 to finish second, well clear of most of the chasing pack. That form suggested a genuine shot at gold heading into the medal round in Nagoya.
## How the Final Slipped Away
India started the final in fourth place after the opening series, scoring 103.6 points to China’s leading 107.2. The gap never closed. After 20 shots, Valarivan and Mane remained fourth with 207.9, trailing third-placed South Korea by just 1.3 points. By the end of the third series, India sat at 312.3, still in fourth, before finishing with 376.3 points as the final elimination stage began.
## A Dominant Chinese Performance
China’s Wang Zifei and Olympic champion Sheng Lihao made the final one-sided at the top, ultimately winning gold with a world-record score of 507.1. South Korea’s Ban Hyojin and Park Hajun took silver with 502.9, and Japan’s Naoki Hanakawa and Misaki Nobata claimed bronze with 439.7.
## Individual Context for Both Shooters
Both shooters had already enjoyed strong individual campaigns in Nagoya. Valarivan won two silver medals earlier in the Games, becoming the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games medal in the women’s 10m air rifle event. Mane, at just 18, was part of India’s silver-medal-winning men’s team and finished 10th in the men’s individual qualification round.
## Why This Result Matters
This fourth-place finish added to a broader pattern of near-misses for Indian shooting at these Games, examined further in our feature on why India is still chasing its first gold medal in Nagoya, and in our roundup of every Indian athlete to finish fourth at these Games.
## The Takeaway
Despite the disappointment, both shooters leave Nagoya with individual and team medals already secured, softening the blow of a mixed team final that ultimately proved a step too far against a dominant Chinese pairing.