Indian shooters made a telling statement at the Asian Games, winning three medals, including a team gold, as the country’s marksmen asserted their class by grabbing five podium finishes. A confident Indian 10m air rifle team led by teenage world champion Rudrankksh Patil gave the country its first gold medal, securing the top place on the podium with a world record score. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar then earned the country an individual bronze — India’s fourth in shooting so far — in the event after a third-place shoot-off with compatriot Rudrankksh, who finished fourth.
(Asian Games Medals Tally | Full Schedule – Sep 25)
The triumvirate of Anish Bhanwala, Vijayveer Sidhu and Adarsh Singh totalled 1718 to win bronze in men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol event. In the individual section, Sidhu settled for the fourth position.
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First GOLD for #TeamIndia at the 19th #AsianGames
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The trio of Rudrankksh, Olympian Divyansh Singh Panwar and Aishwary aggregated 1893.7 in the qualification round to beat back the challenge of the shooting powerhouse China and South Korea on way to the team gold.
In the individual men’s 25 rapid-fire In one of the most dominating displays seen by Indian air rifle shooters in multi-discipline events, the 19-year-old Rudrankksh shot a superb 632.5, Tomar 631.6 and Panwar 629.6 to aggregate the world record score as South Korea was pushed to second spot (1890.1), while the Chinese team was a distant third with an aggregate score of 1888.2.
“We (the team) gave our best and won gold. We did not know it initially, but were told that it was world record. We said it must be gold then,” Rudrankksh said later.
“It was not easy but we have beaten China in team event,” Tomar said.
“I am a bit disappointed that I did not win an individual event gold. But I am really happy that I won a team gold. My two team-mates are the best shooters in 10m air rifle.” India would be slightly disappointed at missing a gold, or a sliver, in the individual category following the red-hot form shown by both Tomar and Rudrankksh in the qualification round.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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