CHENNAI: Elavenil Valarivan's double silver in the Asian Games on Sunday was not just a victory for her, it was also a welcome result for her long-time coach Neha Chavan. Elavenil's latest exploits are not out of the blue. It's years of hard work and dedication. They have had their share of ordeals, most notably in the Olympics, and they have had sunny days as well. It has been a constant process of planning and problem-solving exercise for both.
Neha, Elavenil's coach at the Gun for Glory Shooting Academy, has been the key force for many years. Ever since her junior days, the coach has been quietly overseeing her development, helping her become a formidable force at the elite level.
On the day, the 10m air rifle shooter initially opened her medal account with a team silver before going on to show her class in the eight-woman final. After returning with an impressive 633.5 in the qualification stage, Elavenil, who has made a healthy habit of winning in the last couple of years or so, displayed her high quality to lead the show. As the rest of the shooters, including compatriot Sonam Maskar, fell one by one, Elavenil displayed her mental resilience to maintain her high standards. However, towards the death, she slipped marginally and that was enough for Japan's Taichi Hinata to overtake her and claim gold.
Given the fierce competition — both qualification and finals, her coach was naturally stoked with the silver medal.
"It was such a fierce competition, the Chinese, Korean and the Japanese shooters had high scores in the qualification and entered the finals with that kind of competitiveness... All throughout, 18-19 shots, she was in the lead. In between, there was a huge difference between her and the second place. I think she did very well," Neha told The New Indian Express.
Over the years, Elavenil has evolved to become wiser and stronger. That's visible in her results. Post 2024 Paris Games, she has won medals at World Cups, World Championships, Asian Championships (twice) and now this. Neha's workload, in terms of managing her mindset, has become easier too. Neha said planning and making the right approach towards competitions has been key to her rich returns.
"Preparation for each event is followed by six, seven months of planning. It is already known that this year was going to be big with Asian Games and World Championships. So how do we see her best during those competitions... in qualification (Sunday), the scores were so high...I thought 632 or 632.5 would be enough for a final in the Asian Games.
"In the World Cup in China, the top-eight was 632.7. So I wasn't expecting 633.3 to be the eighth position. So we were working on that aspect, the qualification and parallelly, we were working on the finals and how to approach a certain competition."
It's a never-ending journey of self-discovery for both as they chase excellence. Despite having won medals galore, she had not won an Asian Games medal before. It's clear that the past setbacks have made Elavenil a better shooter.
"In 2018, she was probably 18 years old and now she's 27. As a person also she has changed with two Olympic experiences and World Championships medal. So I think the plan keeps on changing as per how she is and which competition to approach," Neha, who was honoured with the prestigious Dronacharya Award in August for her contribution to coaching, said.
Over time, the shooter has also learnt to balance her workload and be more conscious about picking the right events, according to the coach.
"Post Olympics, she has been taking vacations occasionally. It's not just being at range. It's also about taking rest at the right time and being more particular about choosing the competition. Earlier when was young, she would want to shoot each and every competition. She wanted to compete all the time. Now, it has been more planning-oriented, also in terms of selecting the competition."
Having a colossal figure like Gagan Narang, London Olympics bronze medallist, around has not only lifted Elavenil but also the coach. Elavenil also followed the footsteps of her mentor Narang on the day. Narang had achieved the same in the 2010 edition in Guangzhou
"Both of them share their own set of ideas. His experience helps a lot. His perspective on how to approach a competition, what happens in the final because he has world-level experience of being in the top-three and for many years. That consistency and talking about those certain points. They both text each other whenever the competition is over. 'This is what happened, this is how you should approach after this'.
"His input to her and to me as well has helped. We have to monitor how she approaches the game. Although he might get occupied with some other important work, we do get his inputs whenever we need it. And of course, from his end, he pushes her as well."
