Divyansh Singh Panwar mixed run at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, continued with the 10m air rifle mixed team, of which he was a part of along with Ramita Jindal, pipped to the bronze medal by Korea.
Sport is about glorious uncertainties, and Divyansh was left ruing again after missing out on the 10m air rifle men final on Monday. Despite making the final after finishing eighth in qualification, Divyansh had to watch from the sidelines since Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, who went on to secure bronze in the individual event, and Rudrankksh Patil had better qualification scores, and as per Asian Games rules only two players from a country can feature in a final.
Though individual glory eluded him, Divyansh did have the satisfaction of having done his bit in the team cause as India bagged the top spot in the men’s 10m air rifle team on Monday.
There was ample scope for another team medal on Tuesday, and the Indians seemed well on course for bronze, leading 8-0 at one stage, but the Korean duo of Hajun Park and Eunseo Lee came back strongly in what was a thrilling contest.
India were still favourites after the 13th series, and needed just one point to seal the win and medal. But Korea claimed the next two series to level it at 15-15. After three back-to-back ties from series 16th to 18th, it was about the team that blinked first, and the Koreans proved to be ones with stronger nerves as they prevailed 20-18.
Despite putting up a valiant fight, the finish was not what the Indians had bargained for. While Divyansh wait for an individual medal got extended, Ramita could not add to the bronze she won in 10m air rifle women and silver in the team event on day 1 of the shooting competition on Sunday.
As for the Koreans, Park added to his rich haul at these Games, having won silver in the 10m air rifle men individual and team event on Monday. After finishing fifth in women’s 10m air rifle, Eunseo opened her account with the bronze.
The top-6 teams made the medal round and the top two teams, China (634.4) and Uzbekistan (630.3), fought for gold. The other four contended for the two bronze medals at stake. While India, who finished sixth in qualification with 628.2, were pitted against Korea (629.6), Kazakhstan (629.3) beat Iran (629.0) 17-11 to claim the other bronze on offer.
Contrary to expectations, the final was a one-sided affair with China’s Olympic silver medallist Lihao Sheng and Yuting Huang overpowering Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sokhibov and Mukhtasar Tokhirova 16-2.
For 18-year-old Sheng, it was a second gold on the heels of the men’s 10m air rifle individual medal, after a bronze in the team event. Younger by a year to her teammate, Huang improved her record to three gold following success in women’s 10m air rifle indivudual and team events.
The Chinese duo had also won gold at the Baku World Championship last month.