Shot to the top: Men’s 10m air rifle team goes one better than women, claims gold; Aishwary bags individual bronze

Hangzhou, September 25

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India’s shooters asserted their class by winning three more medals, including India’s first gold at the 19th Asian Games, here today. The shooters took their tally to five medals (1 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze) in two days.

A confident 10m air rifle team led by teenage world champion Rudrankksh Patil secured the top place on the podium with a world record score. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar then earned the country an individual bronze in the event after a third-place shoot-off with Patil.

The triumvirate of Anish Bhanwala, Vijayveer Sidhu and Adarsh Singh finished third in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event after scoring 1718. Sidhu missed out on another medal after finishing fourth in the individual section.

Complete domination

The trio of Patil, Tomar and Olympian Divyansh Singh Panwar aggregated 1893.7 in the qualification round to beat back the challenge of shooting powerhouses China and South Korea. In a dominating display, the 19-year-old Patil shot 632.5, Tomar 631.6 and Panwar 629.6 to aggregate the world record score. South Korea finished second (1890.1), while China were a distant third with 1888.2.

“We gave our best and won gold. We did not know it initially, but were told that it was a world record. We said it must be gold then,” Patil said.

Tomar said it was not easy to beat top teams like China South Korea. The 22-year-old, though, was disappointed to not win the individual gold. “I am a bit disappointed that I did not win an individual gold. But I am really happy that I won a team gold. My teammates are the best shooters in 10m,” he said.

Shoot-off

In the individual event, China’s Sheng Lihao topped the qualification round with a score of 634.5, a qualification Asian Games record, while South Korea’s Park Hajun was second at 632.8. Patil was third, while Tomar was fifth. However, Tomar turned the tables on Patil in the final. Both tied at 208.7 after their 20th shots, Tomar eliminated Patil in the shoot-off.

Tomar was still in contention for silver but a bad shot of 9.8 saw him get eliminated, ending with a score of 228.8. South Korean Hajun (251.3) finished second behind China’s Lihao, who shot a world record score of 253.3.

Tomar said he was consistent throughout, save for the 9.8 shot. “I am very happy with my performance. I was very consistent throughout, even in the qualification. This is my first Asian Games. Sometimes there will be bad shots and that is part of the game,” he said.

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INDIANS IN ACTION

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Dressage: Hriday Chheda, Anush Agarwalla, Divyakriti Singh, Sudipti Hajela

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Judo

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Round of 16: Indubala Devi Maibam (women’s -78kg), Tulika Maan (women’s +78kg), Avtar Singh (men’s -100kg)

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Women’s skeet Phase 1: Ganemat Sekhon, Darshna Rathore, Parinaaz Dhaliwal

Women’s 25m pistol:

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Men’s team Pool A:

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