Manini Kaushik Bags Bronze in Asian Shooting Championship

Shymkent (Kazakhstan), Aug 29 (PTI) — Indian shooter Manini Kaushik, a promising talent at just 24 years of age, achieved a significant milestone by securing her first individual international medal with a bronze in the women's 50m rifle prone category at the Asian Shooting Championships. Additionally, she played a crucial role in leading the Indian team to a silver medal in the competition.

Hailing from Jaipur, Manini, who also competes in the 50m rifle three positions, scored a total of 617.8 to claim the individual bronze. The top honors went to South Korea's Hana Im and Eunseo Lee, who both shot identical scores of 620.2 to take the gold and silver medals respectively.

Although Manini initially finished fifth in the rankings, two shooters ahead of her—South Korea's Yelin Choi and India's Sift Kaur Samra—were participating in the 'Ranking Points Only' (RPO) category, a format where competitors vie solely for ranking points rather than medal standings. As a result, Manini advanced to secure the bronze.

Her performance comprised series scores of 104.0, 103.8, 101.2, 103.3, 103.2, and 102.3 across six series of ten shots each. Her achievements extended to the team event as well, where she, along with Surabhi Bharadwaj and Vinod Vidarsa, amassed a combined score of 1846 points to clinch the team silver in the 50m rifle prone—a non-Olympic category. South Korea claimed gold with 1856.8 points, while Kazakhstan finished third with 1828.2 points.

In the junior category, India's Prachi Gaikwad excelled, taking home the silver in the junior women's 50m rifle prone with an impressive score of 616.6. The gold was won by South Korea's Sehee Oh with a score of 618.6, and Kazakhstan's Sofya Malkina rounded off the podium with a score of 616.3 for the bronze.

In team standings, the junior squad—comprising Prachi, Anushka Thokur, and Tejal Nathawat—secured the bronze with an aggregate of 1823.4 points. South Korea dominated with 1844 points to capture the gold, while Kazakhstan collected 1830.1 points to earn the silver.

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