Shymkent, Kazakhstan - August 26: Indian Olympian Sift Kaur Samra delivered a stellar performance by capturing the individual women's 50m rifle 3 positions gold medal at the Asian Shooting Championships on Tuesday. She also contributed significantly to the Indian team securing the top podium finish.
Samra, a world record holder, shot an impressive 459.2 in the final, narrowly overtaking China’s Yang Yujie, who scored 458.8, to claim the gold. Along with her teammates Anjum Moudgil and Ashi Chouksey, Samra helped the trio achieve a collective score of 1753 points, earning them the team gold medal as well.
This victory marked Samra’s fourth gold at the Asian Championships. She proved her dominance right from the qualification stage, where she topped the charts with a score of 589, securing her a place in the eight-shooter final.
However, her compatriot Shriyanka Sadandi, who led the qualification round, was not eligible for the final as she participated in the 'Ranking Points Only' category, which does not allow medal contention.
During the final event, Samra scored 151.0 and 156.2 in the kneeling and prone positions respectively. In the standing-elimination round, she maintained her lead despite a strong comeback attempt by Yang Yujie, ultimately securing victory by a marginal 0.4 points.
Japan’s Nobata Misaki clinched the bronze medal with a score of 448.2. Ashi Chouksey, entering the final in fourth place, concluded her effort in seventh position, scoring 402.8 points. Veteran Olympian Anjum Moudgil finished 22nd among the 41 competitors.
Samra’s leadership was pivotal in the team event, where the Indian team, comprising herself, Anjum, and Ashi, outperformed Japan and South Korea, who scored 1750 and 1745 respectively.
The previous day, Neeru Dhanda added to India’s gold tally by winning the women’s trap event, marking one of her career’s finest achievements.
(Only the headline of this report may have been reworked by Editorji; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)