Asian Games 2023 shooting: Sift Kaur Samra wins gold with world record, leads India’s medal rush
India won a total of seven medals on the day. The Indian 25m pistol team comprising Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan also bagged gold.
Shooting
Led by Sift Kaur Samra, Indian shooters continued their juggernaut at the Asian Games 2023 shooting events with seven more medals - two golds, three silver and two bronze - in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China on Wednesday.
Shooters Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan started India’s golden run with the top podium in the women’s 25m pistol team event. Sift Kaur Samra followed it up with a gold medal in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions.
The seven medals on the day took India’s tally in shooting at the Asian Games 2023 into the double figures at 12 medals.
Indian shooters have won three gold, four silver and five bronze so far with four days of shooting events still to go. India finished the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta with nine medals, including two golds.
Sift Kaur Samra won India’s first individual gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 with a world record score of 469.6. The 22-year-old scored 154.6 in kneeling, 157.9 in prone and 157.1 in standing elimination to beat Qiongyue Zhang of China by a comfortable margin of 7.3 points in the women’s 50m rifle 3P.
Sift Kaur Samra’s new world record was also 2.6 points better than the previous record set by Seonaid McIntosh in Baku earlier this year. At last month's ISSF World Championships, Sift Kaur Samra won an Olympic quota for India in the same category.
Bronze medallist Ashi Chouksey of India was in the silver medal position but a below par 8.9 on her final shot allowed Qiongyue Zhang to take home the silver.
In the qualifying round, Sift Kaur Samra claimed the second spot with a score of 594 (28x) while Ashi Chouksey came sixth with 590 (24x). Manini Kaushik was 18th with 580 (28x).
The India trio won the team silver courtesy of their cumulative score of 1764 in the qualifying round. China (1773) and the Republic of Korea (1756) won gold and bronze, respectively.
The Indian women’s 25m pistol team comprising Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan clinched the gold medal with a score of 1759. China (1756) and South Korea (1742) claimed silver and bronze, respectively.
Manu Bhaker topped the qualifying round with a score of 590 (28x) while Esha Singh came fifth with a score of 586 (17x). Rhythm Sangwan was seventh with 583 (23x). Since only two from a country could progress to the final eight in the individual event, Rhythm Sangwan missed out.
Esha Singh won a silver medal in the final despite scoring just 2/5 from her opening series. Esha Singh scored a total of 34/50. China’s Rui Liu won the gold medal with an Asian Games record of 38/50 while Jiin Yang of South Korea claimed bronze with 29/45.
Manu Bhaker also had a similar start but failed to recover and finished fifth with a total of 21/35. She was eliminated at the end of the seventh series.
Anantjeet Singh Naruka shines in skeet
In the men’s skeet, Anantjeet Singh Naruka claimed silver after scoring an impressive 58/60. It took a world record-equalling 60/60 from two-time Olympic bronze medallist Abdullah Al-Rashidi from Kuwait to beat the Indian shooter. Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah settled for bronze with a score of 46/50.
In the men’s skeet team event, Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Gurjoat Singh Khangura and Angad Vir Singh Bajwa combined to win a bronze medal with a score of 355. China took the gold with 362 points and Qatar won silver with 359.
However, Anantjeet Singh Naruka was the only Indian shotgun shooter to progress to the six-man individual final after finishing fourth in the qualifying with a score of 121 from five rounds. Gurjoat Singh Khangura and Angad Vir Singh Bajwa scored identical 117 for the 16th and 17th positions.
The shooting events at the Asian Games 2023 will be held till October 1. A total of 33 gold medals are up for grabs in rifle, pistol and shotgun categories.