Olympians, juniors stay on target to lead India’s surge in Asian shooting

Indian shooters have been firing on all cylinders in the ongoing Asian Shooting Championship at Shymkent, Kazakhstan, battling China to finish on top of table, with the event due to close on 29 August, Friday.

Their cumulative medals tally has crossed 50 after the action on 26 August, Tuesday, which saw Olympian and world record-holder Sift Kaur Samra winning her first Asian crown — the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P) gold.

Kaur Samra’s experience and skill sets, especially in the Standing position, came through in the women’s 3P final, as she shot 459.2 to leave young Chinese hope Yang Yujie 0.4 short, after ending the first Kneeling position in seventh place.

Earlier, Sift had worked with Ashi Chouksey (586) and Anjum Moudgil (578) for the team gold in women’s the 3P as well, with a tally of 1753.

The depth of India’s current shooting talent can be gauged from the fact that a jumbo contingent is representing the tricolour there, with 35 seniors and 129 junior members.

The Buenos Aires World Cup winner this year, Kaur Samra first went into the lead after the fourth shot of the third and final Standing position, firing a 10.7. She followed it up with a 10.8 to stamp her authority on the position.

The Chinese were tied in second place at that stage, with Oyunbat Yesugen slipping to fourth.

The 37^th was a 10.9 by Yang, taking Kaur Samra down to second for one shot.

Chouksey, meanwhile, could not get going and bowed out in the seventh, after the 40^th shot, along with the Kazakh in eighth.

India’s juniors also picked up six golds, two silvers and one bronze, including four team golds, on what was effectively the ninth day of the competitions, with the women’s 3P, men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol and the trap men and women shooters doing the honours.

Anushka Thokur in the 50m 3P (women) and Sabeera Haris in the trap (women) won the individual golds, while Aryavansh Tyagi won silver in the men’s trap and Sameer Gulia won bronze in the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol events.

In the junior women’s 3P, Anushka Thokur won the gold with a score of 460.7, five points more than Sehee Oh of Korea, who won the silver.

The other Indians in the final: Mahit Sandhu and Prachi Gaikwad finished fifth and sixth, with scores of 414.7 and 413.9, respectively.

Earlier, Prachi had topped the qualifications with 588, with Mahit Sandhu second with 587 and Anushka Thokur fourth with 583, as the trio took the team gold with a tally of 1758.

Two-time Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker finished her campaign with three bronze medals, with one of them coming in an individual event — the women’s 10m air pistol.