Gurpreet Singh Leads India to Gold at Asian Shooting Championships

Shymkent, Kazakhstan, Aug 29 (PTI) - Veteran Indian pistol shooter Gurpreet Singh showcased exceptional skill for the second consecutive day, leading India to a team gold in the 25m centre fire event on the penultimate day of the Asian Shooting Championships in Shymkent.

The 37-year-old Army marksman, fresh from his victory in the 25m standard pistol individual event and the team triumph, teamed up with Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu and Ankur Goel. Together, they achieved an impressive aggregate score of 1733 points, reinforcing India's strength in non-Olympic shooting disciplines at the continental level. Vietnam and Iran claimed the silver and bronze with scores of 1720 and 1700, respectively.

Gurpreet, who narrowly missed the rapid-fire pistol final at the Rio 2016 Olympics, recorded a combined precision and rapid round total of 579. Sandhu contributed with 583 points, and Ankur added 571, securing the team’s gold medal.

Adding to India's success, the young shooter Manini Kaushik earned her first individual international medal by clinching a bronze in the women's 50m rifle prone event. Earlier, she had steered the Indian team to a silver medal in the same category.

The 24-year-old from Jaipur, who also competes in the 50m rifle 3 positions, shot a total of 617.8, which placed her third. South Korean shooters Hana Im and Eunseo Lee dominated the event with scores of 620.2, taking gold and silver, respectively.

Manini was initially placed fifth but was awarded the bronze due to the 'Ranking Points Only' (RPO) rule. This rule meant the shooters Yelin Choi from South Korea (620.1) and India's Sift Kaur Samra (617.9) competed only for ranking points and not medals.

In the women's 50m rifle prone team event, Manini, alongside Surabhi Bharadwaj and Vinod Vidarsa, secured a silver medal with an aggregate of 1846 points, behind South Korea's winning score of 1856.8. Kazakhstan followed in third with 1828.2 points.

In the junior women's 50m rifle prone, India's Prachi Gaikwad delivered a commendable performance to secure a silver medal with a score of 616.6. Sehee Oh from South Korea won gold with 618.6, while Kazakhstan's Sofya Malkina bagged bronze with 616.3.

The junior team of Prachi, Anushka Thokur, and Tejal Nathawat earned a bronze with an aggregate of 1823.4. South Korea dominated yet again with a total of 1844 points for gold, and Kazakhstan earned the silver with 1830.1 points.

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