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HANGZHOU — Just a year or so back, Sift Kaur Samra was contemplating quitting shooting to concentrate on MBBS studies as she was finding it difficult to juggle studies with sports.
She went to the subsequent National Shooting Championships aiming to take one last shot at the sport before concentrating on her studies. She set the national record in that event in Bhopal and decided to continue.
On Wednesday, Sift Kaur made history for India by becoming the first rifle shooter, male or female, to win an Asian Games gold medal, bagging the yellow metal in Women's 50m Rifle 3-Postitions with a World Record to boot.
The 22-year-old shooter, who was asked to repeat First Year MBBS as she could not appear for the exams because of shooting, came up with a sensational, record-breaking performance in the Women's 50m Rifle 3-positions Individual competition at the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre as she shot a score of 469.6, a new World Record.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]She also set a new Asian Games record and the Asian Record to finish on the top in one of the most difficult of the shooting competitions as it tests the shooter's abilities in kneeling, prone and standing positions.
Sift broke the previous world record of 467.0 held by Seonaid McIntosh of Great Britain, who set the mark at the ISSF World Cup in Baku in May this year, as she finished ahead of Qiongyue Zhang of China (462.3) and compatriot Ashi Choksey (451.9). It could easily have been a one-two result for India but for a poor score by Ashi Chouksey on her final attempt as she lost out to her Chinese opponent.
This was also the first gold medal by an Indian rifle marksman, male or female, in the Asian Games since the sport made its debut in 1962. Of the previous nine gold medals that India have won in the Asian Games, eight have come in pistol events while one was in shotgun (trap). She is only the second Indian woman shooter after
India's Ashi Chouksey (451.9) claimed the bronze medal in this category finishing behind China's Qiongyue Zhang (462.3).
"It feels very good. It’s a very limited and precious opportunity, and I feel blessed to be part of it," Sift Kaur said on becoming an Asian Games champion.
Earlier, Sift and Ashi along with teammate Mannini Koushik had won the silver medal in the Women's 50m Rifle 3-positions Team event.
"Shooting is very unpredictable, maybe one day you are at the top and the other day you don’t perform well," Sift Kaur said about finishing second in the Team event.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1] [bsa_pro_ad_space id=1] [bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]Sift Kaur had finished second in the qualifying round as she helped India bag a silver medal in the Team competition along with Ashi Chouksey and Manini Kaushik.
"The only thing we can do is focus on ourselves, our technique and process, and not compare ourselves with the other teams. (It's about) just focusing on ourselves and competing with ourselves," she added.
But the young shooter, who has won her first senior medal -- a bronze in the ISSF World Cup 2023 held in Bhopal, was in her own zone in the final as she shot superbly to set a new world record.
In the final in the kneeling position, she shot 154.6, the best among all finalists, and in prone, the Indian had a total of 158 for a total of 312.6, establishing an early lead that she maintained till the end.
Her compatriot Ashi Chouksey had moved into the second position before the final shot but a poor score of 8.9 meant she lost the chance to overtake the Chinese and could only get a bronze.
"The last shot was heartbreaking for me – I just missed the timing. At first, when I took the rifle I didn't get the target, so I just took a break and that's where my timing got missed. The next time I took it, there was less time left. It was difficult to shoot on the time, that time, so I missed the shot," said Ashi after the final.
"It usually happens on the first and last shots, when your heart is beating fast. It's just a part and parcel of life and I'll learn from this for my next match," she added.
Asian Games: Esha Singh wins gold and silver in 25m Pistol, sets sights on Paris Olympics
HANGZHOU — Esha Singh, who took up shooting at the age of 9 after visiting a range in her hometown Hyderabad, had set winning a medal in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou as one of her main aims for this year besides qualifying for the 2024 Olympics.
On Wednesday, she fulfilled her first dream of winning an Asian Games medal -- with a double bonanza bagging gold and silver in the Women's 25m Pistol Team and Individual events, respectively, here at the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre.
Esha won a silver medal for India in the Women's 25m Pistol Individual event at the Asian Games after helping the country bag gold in the Team event in the morning along with teammates Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwam.
Qualifying fifth among six-shooters in the Individual event after the rapid round in which she managed only 294 points while Manu shot a brilliant 296 and continued to lead with 590-28x, Esha came up with a brilliant performance when it mattered as she finished second.
Esha, who along with the experienced Manu, had qualified for the final in the Individual, shot a score of 34 points and finished second behind China's Rui Liu, who set a new Asian Games record with a total of 38 points, improving the previous mark of 34 points set by India's Rahi Sarnobat and set in Jakarta/Palembang (Indonesia) in the 2018 edition.
Korea's Jiin Yang took the bronze medal with a score of 29 points after winning a shoot-off with China's Sixuan Feng. India's Manu Bhaker lost out on a medal and finished fifth.
"I feel very grateful and proud of myself for the way I performed. I don’t think I can put into words how I feel right now because emotions are exploding. I am just very happy," Esha said after winning two medals on Wednesday.
Esha, 18, who trains at Olympian Gagan Narang's Gun For Glory Academy in Hyderabad, literally claimed glory on Wednesday by winning two medals, just like compatriot Sift Kaur Samra, the rifle shooter from Punjab, who bagged gold in Women's 50m Rifle 3-positions Individual with a world record and silver in the Team competition.
Esha was placed in joint-second position after the precision round in the Women's 25m Pistol Individual competition as Manu led with 294-14x. Esha had a score of 292-9x, the same as China's Feng Sixuan. She came up with 294 in the rapid section and was placed fifth with a score of 586-17x.
But the final was a different story altogether as Esha went from strength to strength while Manu lost her way and ended fifth.
In the first competitive stage, Esha shot 10 points and moved up to the joint third spot with China's Sixuan Feng. Another Chinese Rui Liu shot into the lead with 13 points while Korea's Jiin Yang was in second with 11 points. Manu managed a score of 9 in this stage and slipped to fifth.
Competitors from Taipei and Singapore were eliminated while a shooter from Iran went out next as Rui Liu, Esha and Jiin Yang maintained their top three positions.
In the next round, Manu was eliminated as she ended with a score of 16 points. There was a tie between Korea's Yang and China's Feng Sixhuan and the Korean emerged on top in the shoot-off, to set off a fight for the second spot with Esha. However, the Indian shooter maintained her composure and eventually finished with the silver medal.
The young shooter from Hyderabad said she made some technical mistakes she should have avoided. "There were a few technical things that I should have done (better) but overall I feel I did a very good performance."
Having fulfilled her first dream, Esha will now be looking forward to getting the next target -- the Paris Olympic Games. For that, she or any of the other pistol shooters will have to bag a quota place for India. That's now is the 18-year-old's next target.
Asian Games: Anant Jeet Singh wins silver, first medal in Men's Skeet since 1974
HANGZHOU — Anant Jeet Singh Naruka made history for India in the Men's Skeet Individual at the Asian Games, winning the first-ever silver medal for the country in the event at the 19th Asian Games, here on Wednesday.
Anant Jeet Singh finished with 58 points out of a possible 60 in the final, surging up the table after qualifying in the fourth position.
The 25-year-old shooter from Rajasthan finished second behind the 60-year-old Abdullah Al Rashadi of Kuwait, who equalled the World Record with a perfect finals score of 60 to win the gold medal.
This is only the second medal won by India in the men's skeet competition after Dr Karni Singh bagged bronze way back in the 1974 edition in Tehran.
Earlier, Anant Jeet Singh had won a bronze medal in the Skeet Team competition in the morning.
Asian Games: India bags gold in Women's 25m Pistol shooting; silver in Women's 50m Rifle 3-positions
HANGZHOU — Rhythm Sangwan, Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh came up with a superb performance to take gold in the Women's 25m Pistol Team competition while the team of Sift Kaur Samra, Ashi Chouksey and Mannini Kaushik claimed a silver medal in the Women's 50m Rifle 3-positions as India continued to reap rich rewards at the shooting ranges here at Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre on Wednesday.
These were India's sixth and seventh medals from the shooting ranges in three days of competition and they are expecting more on Wednesday with Indian shooters in medal contention in Indian competitions in both women's 25m Pistol and 50m Rifle 3-Positions. The shotgun shooters are going through the second phase of their competitions in the men's and women's skeet events.
However, it was the Women's 25m Pistol Team that took the spotlight on Wednesday morning as the team of Manu, Rhythm and Esha continued from where they had left off at the end of the first phase on Tuesday and covered themselves in glory with a good performance in Rapid fire section. The Indians were already in the lead after the precision round on Tuesday.
They finished with a combined score of 1759, finishing ahead of China, who had a score of 1756 with Korea taking the bronze medal with a score of 1742.
At the end of the first day of precision shooting, the Indians had a total of 887 as compared to 874 of the Chinese. On Wednesday, the Indians complied a score of 883 while the Chinese shot 882 as they gave the Indians a tough fight. In the end, the big advantage the Indians gained on the first day --especially in the opening series in which they bagged 292 points while the Chinese could manage only 288 -- of the two-day competition proved enough for them to claim the top spot and the gold medal.
Earlier, it was the ball was set rolling in the Women's 50m Rifle 3-position by Sift, Ashi and Mannini who claimed a silver medal in the Team competition. The Indian team finished with a total of 1764 points to finish behind the Chinese team.
The Indian team of Sift, Mannini and Ashi shot an aggregate score of 1764 to finish behind the Chinese team of Han J, Xia S and Zhang Q, who had a total of 1773.
Republic of Korea Finished third for the bronze medal with a score of 1756.