Nagoya: India enjoyed a strong outing in shooting at the Asian Games on Monday as teenager Himanshu Dhillon won silver and former world champion Rudrankksh Patil secured bronze in the men’s 10m air rifle individual event.
The two individual podium finishes came barely an hour after India had claimed silver in the men’s 10m air rifle team event.
Rudrankksh, Dhillon and Parth Mane combined for a total of 1890.1 points to finish second behind China. China won the team gold with a world-record score of 1899.0, while South Korea secured bronze with 1884.2.
Dhillon, 20, produced a strong performance in the final, finishing with 252.4 points. China’s Lihao Sheng won gold with 254.2, while Rudrankksh finished third with 230.9.
Rudrankksh had made an impressive start to the final and was involved in a close battle with Lihao. He ended the second series with an aggregate of 106.0, ahead of Lihao on 104.9 and Dhillon on 104.8.
However, the former world champion slipped during the sixth series of Stage 2 after shooting 9.7. Dhillon responded with a 10.6 to move into second place and eventually secure the silver medal.
The three shooting medals on Monday took India’s medal tally in the sport to five. Indian shooters had opened their campaign with two silver medals in the women’s 10m air rifle event on Sunday.
India’s overall medal tally at the continental showpiece has now reached six, including Suchika Tariyal’s bronze in the women’s traditional 60kg mixed martial arts event.
India Win Silver In Men’s 10m Air Rifle Team Event
India secured silver in the men’s 10m air rifle team event earlier on Monday. China claimed gold with a world-record team score of 1899.0 points, improving its previous mark by 0.6 points.
South Korea fought back strongly to take bronze with 1884.2 points, while India finished second with 1890.1.
India’s shooting contingent had produced a record 22-medal haul at the Hangzhou Asian Games, including seven gold, nine silver and six bronze medals.
Sumit Kundu Advances To Boxing Pre-Quarterfinals
India also made a winning start to its boxing campaign as Sumit Kundu defeated Thailand’s Bunjong Sinsiri by a unanimous 5-0 decision in the opening round of the men’s 70kg event in Nishio.
Kundu, one of the two Indian boxers who did not win a medal at last month’s Commonwealth Games, produced a dominant performance in the final round to seal his place in the pre-quarterfinals.
He will next face Iraq’s Ali Qasim Hamdan Al-Sarra.
Suchika Tariyal Wins Bronze In MMA
Suchika Tariyal secured India’s first medal in mixed martial arts at the Asian Games after losing 0-2 to Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo in the extra round of their women’s traditional 60kg semifinal.
The semifinal defeat handed Tariyal a bronze medal and took India’s overall medal tally to four at that stage, with three silvers coming from shooting.
Indian Women’s TT Team Beat Pakistan 3-0
India’s women’s table tennis team defeated Pakistan 3-0 to top Group F and qualify for the quarterfinals.
Sutirtha Mukherjee gave India the lead with an 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 win over Aleena Khan in just 10 minutes.
Seventeen-year-old Syndrela Das then defeated Kalsoom Khan 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 to put India 2-0 ahead.
Sreeja Akula completed the clean sweep with an 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 victory over Fatima Khan in 11 minutes.
Srihari Nataraj Qualifies For 50m Backstroke Final
Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj qualified for the men’s 50m backstroke final after clocking 25.37 seconds to finish third in his heat and joint ninth overall.
Rishabh Das, who finished sixth in the 100m backstroke on Sunday, narrowly missed the final after recording 25.41 seconds.
In the men’s 50m freestyle, Akash Mani and Geetesh Shah finished 26th and 28th respectively. South Korea’s Youngbeom Kim clocked 21.71 seconds to set a new Games record.
