Asian Games gold medallist Jitu Rai asserted his class yet again as he bagged the silver medal in Men 50 Pistol at the 13th Asian Shooting Championship in Kuwait.
Korea’s Daehun Park claimed the gold with a Junior Final World Record of 199.2. Jitu finished with a score of 189.5, in a very strong field which also had the likes of world’s best pistol shooter Jong Oh Jin of Korea. Jong Oh finished sixth with 110.8.
Jitu qualified for the finals with a qualification score of 555 (93,93,94,91,92,92).
The other two Indians in the event, Prakash Nanjappa finished 11th while Omkar Singh finished 24th.
The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) had stripped Asian Shooting Championship of it’s status as a qualifying tournament for the Rio Olympics. But it doesn’t really matter for Jitu, who already has an Olympic berth for Rio 2016.
In the Junior Men’s 10m Air Rifle, India’s Akhil Sheoran won a silver medal, missing the gold by 0.3 points while Prashant won a bronze.
Akhil and Prashant also teamed up with Pratik Borse to win the team silver in the event. Satyendra Singh finished fifth in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle while Imran Hasan Khan finished 11 and Sanjeev Rajput 20th. The men’s team missed a medal by 0.7 point.
Gaayathri Nithyanandam bagged the silver medal in the Junior Women’s 50m Rifle Prone with a score of 614.6. The trio of Gayathri, Srinithi Venkatesh and Sonika also won a silver in the team event with a total score of 1830.
Chinki Yadav did well to take the bronze medal in Junior Women 25 Pistol, and together with Shreya Gawande and Sanjana Serawat won the team gold while in the senior category of the event, Heena Sidhu, Gauri Sheoran and Annu Raj Singh could not qualify for the finals.
The Youth Men’s 10m Air Rifle team comprising Satyajeet Kandhol, Gajendra Rai and Mithlesh Babu also bagged the team bronze.
Veteran shooter Kuheli Gangulee finished 4th in the Women’s 50m Rifle Prone while Lajja Gauswami finished 9th and Elizabeth Susan Koshy finished 20th.
The Results:
Men’s 50m Pistol: 1. Park Daehun (KOR) 199.2 (567); 2. Jitu Rai 189.5 (555); 3. Pang Wei (CHN) 169.5 (559); 11. Prakash Nanjappa 553; 24. Omkar Singh 545. Team: 1. Korea 1684; 2. China 1678; 3. Chinese Taipei 1649; 4. India 1647.
Men’s 10m Air Rifle: 1. Yang Haoran (CHN) 207.7 (628.4); 2. Cao Yifei (CHN) 206.6 (626.1); 3. Pouriya Norouziyan (IRN) 185.7 (628.5); 5. Satyendra Singh 143.9 (623.9); 11. Imran Hasan Khan 620.5; 20. Sanjeev Rajput 616.2. Team: 1. China 1876.2; 2. Korea 1870.9; 3. Iran 1861.3; 4. India 1860.6.
Junior Men’s 10m Air Rifle: 1. Qian Xuecao (Chn) 208.3 (625.9); 2. Akhil Sheoran 208.0 (621.2); 3.Prashant 185.9 (622.2); 4. Pratik Borse 165.6 (618.1). OOC: Tushar Jain 615.4. Team: 1. China 1864.5; 2. India 1861.5; 3. Korea 1855.8.
Youth Men’s 10m Air Rifle: 1. Lee Geongook (KOR) 207.7 (611.9); 2. Alireza Davoodabadi (IRN) 205.7 (617.3); 3. Chu Sanghun (KOR) 183.9 (613.3); 4. Satyajeet Kandhol 162.7 (613.4); 6. Gajendra Rai 120.9 (611.5); Mithlesh Babu 610.5. OOC: Akshat Seth 601.6. Team: 1. Korea 1847.2; 2. Iran 1845.3; 3. India 1835.4.
Women’s 25m Sports Pistol: 1. Zhang Jingjing (CHN) 7 (18)4 (585); 2. Han Yoojung (KOR) 1 (19) 580; 3. Cao Lijia (Chn) 7 (18) 3 (578); 4. Pattarasuda Sowsa Nga (THA) 3 (16) 580; 20. Annu Raj Singh 569; 22. Heena Sidhu 565; 28. Gauri Sheoran 563. Team: 1. Korea 1741; 2. China 1732; 3. Mongolia 1720; 9. India 1697.
Junior Women’s 25m Sports Pistol: : 1. Zhou Qingyuan (Chn) 8 (16) 583; 2. Kim Heesun (Kor) 4 (12) 572; 3. Chinki Yadav 7 (10)3 (570); 4. Yun Sun Im (PRK) 1 (10)3 (567); 5. Shreya Gawande 10(1) 572; 10. Sanjana Serawat 559. Team: 1. India 1701; 2. Korea 1697; 3. Thailand 1639.
Women’s 50m Rifle Prone: 1. Zhznei Serikbayeva (KAZ) 621.1; 2. Sununta Majchacheep (THA) 620.5; 3. Muslifah Zulkifli (MAS) 620.0; 4. Kuheli Gangulee 619.6; 9. Lajja Gauswami 617.0; 20. Elizabeth Susan Koshy 612.0. Team: 1. Kazakhstan 1856.4; 2. Thailand 1854.5; 3. China 1852.0; 4. India 1848.6.
Junior Women’s 50m Rifle Prone: 1. Fatemeh Karamzadeh (IRN) 617.3; 2. Gaayathri Nithyanandam 614.6; 3. Najmeh Khedmati 614.3; 4. Srinithi Abirami 611.8; 10. Sonika 603.6. Team: 1. Iran 1840.7; 2. India 1830.0; 3. Mongolia 1811.1.