By Harpal Singh Bedi
Jakarta, Aug 19 (UNI) Shooters gave India its first medal-a bronze as Ravi Kumar and Apurvi Chandela finished third in the 10m mixed air rifle event of the 18th Asian Games at Palembang on Sunday.
Earlier India started the shooting campaign on a disappointing note when in the mixed pistol event fancied Manu Bhaker and Abhishek Verma, failed to qualify for the finals after being tied with Kazakhstan
In the afternoon, Ravi and Apurvi salvaged some position as they shot 429.9 for a bronze in mixed air rifle event.
They had finished second in the qualification with a total score of 835.3. Both shooters fired 40 shots each in the 50-minute session. They made it to the finals as the second best team.
World Cup bronze medallist Ravi, who is mentored by Abhinav Bindra, had won a men’s 10m rifle team bronze at the last edition in Incheon
After the first series, India was second with 102.9 while Korea led with 103.4. But the Chinese improved drastically to steal the second spot. Mongolia was the first to be eliminated, followed by Korea
Chinese Taipei claimed gold with 494.1, a Games record, while China bagged silver with 492.5.
Ravi was candid to admit that, “This bronze has come only because of Apurvi. The final was a disappointment after a decent qualification. We didn't get enough time to train together
Apurvi expressed satisfaction after winning a bronze “Our best finish together was fourth at the World Cup and we have improved on that. My first Asian Games medal and my first medal for India here. I am really happy about that but my focus is on the main event (10m rifle) tomorrow,” .
Talking about slipping to the third position in the elimination stage, she said, “This happens in shooting. I think we shot alright.”
In the mixed pistol even India and Kazakh were level at 759 points after 80 shots but the Kazakh sealed the fifth and final qualifying spot with more inners 10s than India (25 to India’s 14).
Manu Bhaker had raised expectations after becoming the youngest Indian women to win a gold at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. The 16-year-old had also won two gold medals at the Guadalajara World Cup earlier this year.
“Manu did not shoot to her potential. She was angry and agitated towards the end. She needs to work on controlling her anger. Abhishek needs to learn how to cope with pressure in big events. It is new for him. They both will learn,” said pistol coach Jaspal Rana.
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