Indian shooters on Monday bagged India's first gold medal in the Asian Games 2023 as the trio comprising world champion Rudrankksh Patil, Olympian Divyansh Panwar, and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar achieved first place in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle event.
Sports Authority of India Hailed Indian Team for Winning First Gold Medal in Asian Games 2023
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The trio not only clinched gold medal for the country but also smashed the world record in a team event as they scored a total of 1,893.7 points in the qualification round.
In that round, Patil shot 632.5 points and Tomar and Panwar shot 631.6 and 629.6 respectively to reach the world record score.
The previous world record was held by China which was reached during the World Championships in Baku in Azerbaijan on 19 August 2023. The Chinese shooters had managed a score of 1,893.3 points.
Patil and Tomar also qualified for the Men's Individual 10m Air Rifle final.
Patil was third in the heats and Tomar fifth. Panwar finished eighth in the heats but since the rules say that only two from each country can shoot in the finals, he was not eligible.
While competing in the Men’s Individual 10m Air Rifle finals, Tomar clinched a bronze medal as he scored a total of 228.8 points.
The gold medal in the individual class went to Lihao Sheng of China (253.3 points) and the silver medal was secured by South Korea's Hajun Park (251.3 points).
The gold medal in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle event was the fourth medal India has bagged in shooting.