At the General Shooting Gallery in Aichi on Friday, the Indian shooting team clinched a silver medal. The trio of Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Niraj Kumar, and Rudrankksh Patil achieved a total score of 1762 points, securing second place in the competition. This performance adds to India’s medal tally in the event.
China took the gold with 1766 points while Korea completed the top three (1751 points). China’s Liu won the gold medal with a Games record tally of 360.5, followed by compatriot Changhong. Kazakhstan’s Satpayev Islam won the bronze with 348.3. Aishwary totalled 327.6 while Niraj managed 299.
The medal boosted India’s flailing campaign at the Asian Games so far, which was highlighted by the failure of the women pistol team, although the mixed team pair of Suruch Singh and Kamaljeet won a gold in 10m range. Aishwary and Niraj had a disappointing outing as both the shooters couldn’t find their rhythm. A silver medallist from the Hangzhou Asiad, Aishwary was third after the first series of ten shots in kneeling position but dropped down the leaderboard as the final progressed. Niraj, meanwhile, languished at the bottom from start to finish.
Represented by Tokyo Olympics champion Changhong Zhang, Paris Olympics champion Lui Yukun and 10m air rifle powerhouse Sheng Lihao, China logged a total of 1766 points with 95 inner 10s to cruise to an easy win. South Korea took the team bronze with 1751 points. Changhong topped the qualification with 593 points, a Games record. The 50m 3 Positions final comprises 35 shots to be fired in 22 minutes. Ten shots each are fired in kneeling and prone positions while 15 are fired in the standing position.
Aishwary and Niraj qualified for the individual final while Rudrankksh, at ninth, just missed the medal round. Aishwary and Niraj entered the final in third and fourth places respectively. The Standing section comprises two series of five shots each followed by a single-shot elimination for the next five shots.
