Teen Indian shooters shine with four golds at Asian Championship
Teen shooters led India’s charge at the Asian Shooting Championship in Kazakhstan, winning four golds on day four. Abhinav Shaw, Mansi Raghuwanshi, Harmehar Lally, and Jyotiraditya Sisodia starred as India reached 26 medals
Hyderabad: Teenaged Indian shooters dominated day four of the 16th Asian Shooting Championship Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, clinching four of the five gold medals India won across individual and team competitions. With this, India’s medal tally swelled to 26, including 14 gold, six silver, and six bronze, firmly cementing their position at the top of the standings.
Earlier, all three shooters in the men’s 10m air rifle senior event shot brilliant qualification rounds to give India yet another team gold. However, Rudrankksh Patil and Arjun Babuta could not convert their chances into individual medals, finishing fourth and fifth in the final respectively.
Patil remained in medal contention through much of the final before bowing out after the 20th shot of the 24-shot contest with 207.6. Teammate Arjun exited earlier with 185.8. Local favourite Islam Satpayev of Kazakhstan claimed gold, China’s Lu Dingke won silver, while Korea’s Park Haejun took bronze.
“Experienced” junior Abhinav Shaw began the gold rush for India, teaming up with Naraen Pranav (631.1, third) and Himanshu (630.9, fourth) to shoot 628.1 in qualification. Their combined tally of 1890.1 not only secured team gold but also set new Asian and world junior records.
In the final, Shaw staged a brilliant comeback. Starting fifth after th
Teen shooters led India’s charge at the Asian Shooting Championship in Kazakhstan, winning four golds on day four. Abhinav Shaw, Mansi Raghuwanshi, Harmehar Lally, and Jyotiraditya Sisodia starred as India reached 26 medals
e first five shots, he surged into the lead after the second series. Despite slipping with two high 9s on his 17th and 18th shots, he showed nerves of steel to edge Korea’s Lee Hyunseo by 0.1, sealing victory with a superb run that included a 10.9 on his 21st shot.
Over at the shotgun ranges, Mansi Raghuwanshi triumphed in the junior women’s skeet final with a tally of 53 out of 60. Compatriot Yashasvi Rathore claimed silver with 52, while Kazakhstan’s Lidiya Basharova settled for bronze. Mansi finished strongest, hitting her last 10 targets, while Yashasvi missed two in the final stretch. Agrima Kanwar also made the final, finishing sixth.
In junior men’s skeet, Harmehar Singh Lally (115, third in qualification) and Jyotiraditya Singh Sisodia (110, fifth in qualification) claimed individual silver and bronze with scores of 52 and 43 respectively. Kazakhstan’s Artyom Sedelnikov won gold with 53 hits.
The Indian duo, along with Atul Singh Rajawat (107), later combined to secure the junior men’s skeet team gold with a tally of 338, four ahead of the silver-winning hosts.
