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 in just two days of competition here.
A confident Indian 10m air rifle team led by teenage world champion Rudrankksh Patil gave the country its first gold medal at the Games, securing the top place on the podium with a world record score here on Monday.
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.
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.
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.
In the highly competitive eight-shooter finals, both Indian marksmen struggled to replicate their exceptional performance from the qualification round. Despite their best efforts, Tomar and Rudrankksh faced fierce competition, ultimately securing the bronze and fourth place, respectively.
After a hard-fought battle with Rudrankksh, Tomar managed to edge out the teenage shooter in a shoot-off for the third-place spot, scoring 228.8.
This secured him the bronze medal, marking a significant achievement in
