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Asian Games 2023: Indian shooters, rowers combine to deliver three silver, two bronze medals on opening day
India have made a resounding start to their Asian Games 2023 campaign with its shooting and rowing contingents combining to deliver five medals on opening day.
India have kicked off its Asian Games 2023 campaign on a thunderous note, as both the shooting and rowing contingents combined to deliver a remarkable 5 medals within the first five hours of action on Sunday. The shooting squad, comprising Ramita Jindal, Mehuli Ghosh, and Ashi Chouksey sets the stage with a brilliant silver medal triumph in the Women's 10m Air Rifle event. And a mere two minutes later, the Indian rowing team claimed its first medal, with Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind clinching the second spot in the fiercely competitive men's lightweight Double Sculls event.
But the rowing heroes weren't done just yet. In a spectacular display of talent and teamwork, Babu Lal Yadav and Lekh Ram took home the bronze medal in the men's pair event, while another rowing crew, featuring the Neeraj, Naresh Kalwaniya, Neetish Kumar, Charanjeet Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Bheem Singh, Punit Kumar, Ashish, and Uttam Pande, clinched a well-deserved silver in the men's eight event. Capping off India's medal events on the opening day was Ramita again, who shot a 10.4 in the women's 10m air rifle final.
Indian shooters on target
In a commendable display, all three female Indian shooters delivered impressive performances on Sunday, despite narrowly missing out on the top spot to China in the team category. Ramita secured second place with a qualification score of 631.9, while Mehuli clinched fourth position with a total of 630.8 points. Unfortunately, Ashi was slightly off target, managing 623.3 points, landing her in the 28th position during the qualification round.
However, the combined scores of the Indian trio proved to be sufficient for them to secure the silver medal, boosting the spirits of the Indian contingent. They are striving to surpass their medal count from the previous Games held in Jakarta and Palembang, where they amassed nine medals. In shooting, team medals are determined by the cumulative scores of a country's shooters in the qualification round.
In the qualification round, all three Indians demonstrated remarkable consistency. Ramita delivered a series of commendable scores – 104.3, 106.7, 105.2, 104.3, 105.4, and 106.0 – accumulating a total of 631.9. Her performance secured a second-place finish, with Han Jiyan of China claiming the top spot by setting a new 10m air rifle Games qualification record and an Asian record with an exceptional score of 634.1.
Mehuli, who also secured her place in the individual final with a qualification score of 630.8, exhibited an impressive display with scores of 104.6, 105.7, 104.6, 105.1, 104.9, and 105.9. Her performance earned her a fifth-place finish and the opportunity to compete in the final round.
