Indian Shooters Aim High at Asian Championships in Shymkent

Shymkent (Kazakhstan), Aug 18 (PTI) - Indian shooters have embarked on their mission to enhance their medal count at the Asian Championships in the rifle, pistol, and shotgun events. They commenced their campaign with the men's 10m air pistol team securing a silver medal, although Faridabad's Anmol Jain narrowly missed an individual podium finish, coming in sixth on Monday.

The Indian men's team, featuring Anmol Jain with a score of 580, Aditya Malra at 579, and Asian Games gold medalist Saurabh Chaudhary achieving 576, collectively tallied 1,735 points. Their efforts placed them in second behind China, who captured the gold with a total of 1,744 points.

Securing the bronze, Iran completed the event with a score of 1,733. In the individual category for the men's 10m air pistol, Anmol managed to secure a spot in the final by qualifying in seventh place, scoring 580, but he finished sixth in the final round with an aggregate of 155.1 points.

China's Hu Kai clinched the gold with a remarkable score of 241.6, followed by South Korea's Hong Suhyeon, who took silver, and Iran’s Amir Joharikhou, who bagged the bronze, with scores of 239.0 and 216.8, respectively.

Unfortunately, the other Indian team members, Aditya and Chaudhary, could not advance past the qualification rounds, finishing 13th and 21st with scores of 579 and 576, respectively. Of particular note was the performance of Amit Sharma, a 20-year-old newcomer to international competition, who topped the qualification round among 48 competitors with an impressive score of 588. However, his participation was limited to the 'Ranking Points Only' (RPO) category, which prohibited his progression to the finals.

Another Indian RPO shooter, Varun Tomar, scored 584, placing him fourth in the qualification round. In the junior men's 10m air pistol category, Kapil earned the individual gold, registering a score of 243.0. He qualified fourth with a score of 579. Indian shooter Gavin Antony also made it to the final and achieved bronze with a score of 220.7.

The junior team, comprising Gavin (582), Kapil, and Vijay Tomar (562), accumulated 1,723 points to earn the team silver, trailing South Korea, who amassed 1,734 points. This year's contingent, consisting of 182 Indian shooters across senior, junior, and youth divisions, marks the country's largest participation in the continental championship. The championship offers 58 events, including 46 individual and 12 mixed-team categories.

In the previous edition held in Changwon, the senior Indian shooting team concluded the competition with third place, securing six golds, eight silvers, and five bronze medals. China led the tally with 14 golds out of a total of 33 medals, while hosts South Korea secured nine golds out of 24. Overall, India concluded with 59 medals, which included 21 gold, 22 silver, and 16 bronze in Changwon.

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