New Delhi: Pistol aces Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu bagged a bronze each Sunday to continue India’s medal charge at the 10th Asian Championships 10m Rifle/Pistol in Wako City, Japan.
Jitu won an individual bronze in the men’s 10m Air Pistol, which also helped the Indian team comprising Shahzar Rizvi and Omkar Singh besides Jitu, to bag the team gold in the event.
Heena claimed an individual bronze in the women’s 10m Air Pistol. Her effort, along with teammates Shri Nivetha Paramantham and Harveen Srao, helped India clinch a silver medal.
India added another individual bronze through Anmol Jain in the junior men’s 10M Air Pistol as well as the team silver in the event, thanks to the combined exploits of Anmol, Gaurav Rana and Abhishek Arya.
Having won 11 medals on the first two days of the competition, India’s medal count stands at four gold, six silver and seven bronze for a total of 17 medals so far.
In the men’s 10m Air Pistol competition, it was Rizvi who topped qualification with a score of 583. He along with Jitu, who shot 577 to finish fifth in qualifying, made it two Indians in the eight-man final.
The experienced Omkar missed out, shooting 575 to finish 10th but it was enough to secure the team gold for the troika with a combined score of 1,735, full six points ahead of second placed China and seven ahead of third placed Vietnam.
In the 24-shot final, Jitu narrowly pipped Rizvi to claim bronze with a score of 219.6 against 199.6 by Rizvi. Zhengyang He of China won the gold while while compatriot Wei Yang won silver with 241.1.
Press Trust of India
