India started the 10th Asian Airgun Championship on a strong note with three medals on Friday. Ravi Kumar won the bronze medal in men’s 10m Air Rifle, while the men and women’s team took home the silver in their respective 10m Air Rifle events.
Ravi Kumar beat compatriot and Olympic medallist Narang to finish on the podium with 225.7 points. Ravi scored 10.8 and 9.5 in the shoot-off to Narang’s 9.4 and 10.6. However, he couldn’t go further as China’s Yifei Cao beat him to silver at 248.6 points. Buhan Song from China won the gold medal with 250.2. The other Indian in the final was Deepak Kumar who finished fifth with 185.0 points.
In the qualification, Deepak had gone though at the fourth position with Kumar and Narang at sixth and seventh respectively.
Later, Arjun Babota clinched silver junior men’s 10m Air Rifle event. An ISSF junior world cup Bronze medalist last year, Babuta finished just 0.1 point behind Chinese gold medallist Yukun Liu in the final, going neck to neck with him over the last four shots, but eventually getting beaten 249.8-249.7.
In the men’s team event, the trio of Deepak Kumar, Ravi Kumar, and Gagan Narang combined to score a total of 1876.6 points and finish second behind China. Deepak was the top-scorer with 627.5 while Ravi scored 624.6 and Narang finished with 624.5. Japan won the bronze.
The women’s team, comprising Anjum Moudgil, Meghana Sajjanar and Pooja Ghatkar scored 1247 points to clinch the silver. Moudgil shot 417.5, followed by Sajjanar’s 415.9 and Ghatkar’s 413.3. China took the gold in this as well, with 1249.2 points while Singapore got bronze.
In the women’s 10m Air Rifle final, however, no Indian made it to the podium with Moudgil’s fourth being the best. Sajjanar was the only other Indian in the final. Moudgil was unlucky to miss out on a medal by a whisker, getting beaten in a shoot-off to determine third place, to Singapore’s Tan Qian Xiu Adele.
The Asian Championship is being held at the Asaka Shooting Range in Wako city, Japan. The same shooting range will be used for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics shooting competitions.
India has sent a 37-member strong contingent at the 10th Asian Championship 10m Rifle/Pistol for the championship from December 8-11. The tournament is also a qualification for the Youth Olympic Games, scheduled for Buenos Aires, Argentina, next year.
Saturday has the junior women’s 10m Air Rifle event lined up along with two Air Rifle Youth finals for men and women.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!